I had trouble figuring out what to be my first reader topic. There’s a recurring theme of 2012 in the graphic novel, after Omar learns about this end of the world theory 12-21-12. It’s his total on a cash register, at one point I think it’s his alarm clock – this doesn’t surprise me that he sees the numbers constantly, now that he knows what they can stand for. What makes me wonder, though, is where did the theme go? It just kinda drops off.
And I’m not sure of what to make of this novel. Manic-depressive, bipolar, slightly neurotic, aging fat man is getting paranoid about his state of being at this stage of his life right now. It’s not really traumatic or unfortunate enough for me to care – that possibly sounds really messed up of me – but anyway, I didn’t really connect/appreciate the storyline. I like the art though. And what I really like about the art is the advertisements are in their true iconic form. For example, the Mrs. Fields cookie bag is the actual font, icon, logo that we see in real life. I guess Santiago can’t do this with everything (big name Fox news becomes Faux, but the font and angled shapes are still there), but I wondered why he focused so much on making sure the logos of pop culture are exactly as we see them today in our lives. Would it really make much difference if that bag of cookies wasn’t Mrs. Fields?
Is Santiago trying to really draw a criticism to these big corporations in his graphic novel? Do these corporations/exact logos have some sort of influence on Omar?
I agree that Omar’s not a character we readily connect to — and I’m not sure he’s supposed to be. It’s definitely the art that carries us through the story in those moments where he is utterly unlikeable.
I wonder if all the name brand logos and the song lyrics buzzing through the air are a way to generalize Omar — to make us realize that we do in fact inhabit the same world as him…
I was also wonder where the 2012 theme was going, and I almost thought it would tie into the plot, but it never happened.
Like you, I did not have any sympathy for any of the characters in this “novel.” Because I didn’t care about the characters, I didn’t make as much of an effort as I could have to read this book. Even after class, I still really don’t know what happened in this book. Another problem with the book is that (especially toward the end) it likes to take massive leaps in the time line. From one page to another over a year can have past and then the book ends. It made no sense and there is no incentive for me to try to make sense of it.
As for the art, what I was expecting from the cover, and what was received in the book seemed drastically different to me. I hated the artwork in this book. It didn’t disturb me or anything, I just found it ugly.
As for the use of logos in the book. I with that the sharp contrast of the real logo/product image against the drawn backgrounds are a way to have them stand out as they do in real life. The job of the marketing department for these companies is to have their product stand out, and by having the used product do the same in this book plasters the pristine trashed item in the bleak landscape.