Author Archives: kitlerc

First Readers – Fun Home (2nd week)

It is the end of the semester and we as a class have ended it with “Fun Home.”  I wish I could say that I had enjoyed it. Unfortunately the book was too full of literary references that went over my head and a plot that went around in circles analyzing the author’s life and relationships continuously. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change anything about the book. I’m not saying that it should dumb itself down to accommodate me, what it amounts to is that it was just not my “thing.” It isn’t a book I would normally read, nor is it the kind of book I ever see myself reading again. But sometimes that can be a good thing, to broaden one’s mind and view; even if you hate it every step of the way. I would recommend this book to an English major or a psychology major, or maybe even a conflict analysis major.

It may have suffered in my eyes due to the poor timing of when it was being read. Reading a book that has relatively no impact on studies while juggling a multitude of papers, tests, a job, and other assignments (I myself have locked myself away for the past three days to work on an extensive paper which still has to be proofread and submitted within a couple days).

For those that decide to click that special “reply” button attached to this post, not only do I ask you to reply with your thoughts on “Fun Home,” but with your thoughts on everything else that we have read this semester. A list of what you liked most and what you liked least, and your reasoning behind your order.

1. Frank Miller,  Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986)
-This was my favorite out of all the books that we read. It was a good start for my transition as a film minded person to a graphic novel minded person. Using a subject matter I was very familiar with and adding an excellent story and beautiful (in its own way) artwork made this a very pleasurable read.

2. Art Spiegelman,  Maus Boxset (1986)
-While not my favorite to read, I have to say that Maus was probably the best written. The story was heart-wrenching and not only dealt with the events of the holocaust, but of those between the author and his father. Maybe I just enjoy it when stories break the forth wall from time to time, but I felt that everything was realistic (if you ignore the fact that every person was an animal) and well put together. Some people complained about the artwork in Maus, but I think that the monochromatic and shaky style adds an extra layer to this piece.

3. Gene Luen Yang,  American Born Chinese (2006)
-Sometimes, you need a break from all the gloom and doom of everything in the world, and this was the only comic that we read that provided that comic relief to an otherwise bleak list of readings. Or maybe it’s because I find racism funny.

4. Junji Ito,  Uzumaki (1998)
-Since for the class we were only required to read the first book, I am only judging the first book. It was refreshing to have a look into another culture’s drawing style and the story was rather creepy at some parts. The only reason that this book is low-ish on the list is because the first book didn’t really have an overarching story; it felt more like an anthology of short stories that all had a related theme. If you include the second and third books, this would go up at least one spot on my list as the third book really ties all of what has happened together (and having an ending is fun!)  If you did not read the second or third books, I strongly urge that you do.

5. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons,  Watchmen (1986)
-Unfortunately, this is probably low on my list because of the movie. I just hate hearing stories that I already know. I enjoyed the differences that were in the book, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of “I already know all of this.” I still enjoyed it, but probably not as much as I could have.
On a side note, this book was actually recommended to me back in high school, but when I flipped through it, I just did not like the art style at all. I’m probably the only one that thinks that this book was just ugly, but that can make all the difference in how much something can be enjoyed.

6. Chris Ware,  Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (2000)
-I will probably get a lot of flak for not having this closer to the very bottom of the list, but once you get past the first half and find out how it all ties together, it isn’t a half bad story. I just wish the publisher knew how to paste a book together.

7. Marjane Satrapi,  The Complete Persepolis (2000-2003)
-Here is another unfortunate victim of “already know what’s going to happen.” Having seen the movie before reading it, Persepolis was a slow read of comparing scenes to the movie (and frankly, the artwork in the movie was much better in my opinion). The other nail in this coffin is the second book of the two part series. I just plain didn’t like it and didn’t care about what was going on, but to be fair, I felt the same way for the second half of the movie version.

8. Alison Bechdel,  Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2006)
-As I have already stated, this book just wasn’t my kind of thing.

9. Wilfred Santiago,  In My Darkest Hour (2004)
-This was by far the worst book of the semester. It had terrible artwork, a non-sensical plot, and it suffered from D.G.A.S.S. (Don’t Give A Shit Syndrome). Maybe I didn’t give the book enough time or attention, but I just didn’t care enough to give it more time than I had to.

(For the purposes of this list, I have not included “Understanding Comics” as that book was more of a guide to comics rather than a story. Feel free to include it in your list if you feel it necessary.)

Searchers – Fun Home

On the back of the book “Fun Home” I noticed a website. I went to check out the comics this author has drawn and I was surprised at how different the tone of the comics are from the book. If you have the time I would suggest giving at least a couple of the strips a read, it might add a new perspective on the rest of “Fun Home.”

http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/strip-archive-by-number

Searchers – Persepolis

I must apologize, I have failed as a searcher. I was going to try to track down a listing for “Dialectic Materialism,” the comic book version that Satrapi said she read in “Perseplois.” It turns out I was not the only one that has tried to find this title as I stumbled across a forum post here.

This lead to two things, one was an interview with the author of “Persepolis,” and this part caught my eye.

“Dave: You didn’t grow up with comic books, though, right? You mention the one your parents gave you on dialectic materialism.

Satrapi: That was the only comic book that I read. My cousins were reading Tintin and these kinds of things, but in Tintin you don’t have any female persons, so I couldn’t identify with any of it.

I have read some comics, a little bit, but I don’t come from a culture of comics. When I see my other colleagues, all of them from the age of five wanted to become cartoonists. I had so many professions before. I didn’t want to do this particularly. It just happened.

All my life it has been like that. I’m a very hard working person if I have to be, but I won’t kill myself to achieve a goal. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”

(The whole interview can be found here.)

I found it very interesting that someone that had not grown up with comic books still ended up making one.  The other thing I found was a theory that the book that she read was “Marx for Beginners.” I was fortunate enough to find a copy that I could flip though, but I do not believe this is the book Satrapi read, mainly because the book itself is less a comic book and more of a heavily illustrated novel. And I also could not find what Satrapi described in Persepolis on pages 12 and 13.

First Readers – Jimmy Corrigan

I will start by first saying that I have finished the book and I may reference things that are farther than you have read, though I doubt it.

While I can’t say that it was a great book, I can say that Jimmy Corrigan was, at the very least, a unique experience and by the end I felt that it was worth my time. Finally seeing the connection of the 1893 story and present day was gratifying and really showed the connection between James and Jimmy, as if this sort of luck and personality runs in the Corrigan family. When Jimmy’s dad dies really tugged at the heart strings, not so much because of the death itself, but because of the knowledge that it is no longer possible for Jimmy to know more about his dad, especially when Amy literally shoves Jimmy out of her life. This story could have easily have ended with Jimmy jumping from the top of a building (just as he saw Superman do at the beginning of the book, and was actually the ending I expected). I was relieved that it ended on more of a hopeful note for him. But if they get together, won’t that just pass down the family heritage of disappointing fathers, and depression to the next generation of Corrigan?

Also, one other thing I am very confused about is the constant occurrence of peaches throughout the book. What is the deal with that?

Searchers: Watchmen in 5 Panels

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/comics-in-5-panels/3535-watchmen

Here is the briefest of brief summaries you could possibly have of “Watchmen.” It gives a very short description of what some of the characters are like, but in the end it tries to point out a huge flaw with the premise of Adrian’s plan. (Unsuccessfully because it had such a small timeframe to work in). It has no time to explain why Adrian’s plan would ultimately fail, instead simply stating that “a common sense of inter-nation politics” would explain it. I would agree though that unless this alien invasion was to happen again, the countries would essentially forget about the event and move on.

-Colin Kitler

First Readers, The Dark Knight Returns – Colin Kitler

My experiences and knowledge of Batman extends only to the media produced for a wider audience, and I am shocked at how much inspiration may have come from this comic book. Since this book predates any of the Batman films (with exception to 1966’s “Batman” starring Adam West) it is safe to say that the darker tone of most of the films can be attributed to Miller’s take on Batman. In “Batman Begins,” the same explanation of why bats were chosen as Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego is used (pg 18-19). The dark tone can be seen as far as the most recent Batman video game. The line on page 39, “The last ones usually lose it. So I let him. And let him come to me,” can be used to describe how most of the enemies are programmed in the game. If the last enemy in the room realizes that he is trapped alone, with Batman nowhere to be seen he will become terrified and start shooting at anything that startles him, such as a radiator in the room. But the most direct adaptation of Miller’s version of Batman can be seen in an episode of the 90’s animated series (episode “Legends of the Dark Knight”), in which some kids talk about how they think Batman is, including a direct remake of events in the comic which have direct quotes, shots taken straight from the panels, and even the fight choreography from Batman’s first fight with the mutant leader (pg. 72-81).

The episode can be found in two parts on YouTube, starting here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26ZVuMsRx3c. You can skip to part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-eZdMN4Udo) if you want to go straight to homage to this comic book.