Author Archives: cwilliaz

Searchers- Fun Home

http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1193923.html

Found this little gem after a quick search.  Craig Thompson was mentioned in the Freedman article; sounds like we may want to check that out once we’re done with papers and such.  The body of the story caught my attention because the jist of both side’s arguments is “doing what’s best for the kids” or thereabouts.  It seems people still can’t get over the fact that adults read comic books.  There was really no reason for the books to be in the kid’s section in the first place.  There needs to be some kind of Reading Corps, classifying and placing books by actually reading and fairly analyzing them, because no one with the job of shelving these things seems willing to crack open the pages.  Any thoughts from you guys?

Respondent- Children’s Politics- Seth W.

Most of our discussion of Persepolis seems to focus either on the black-and-white color scheme or the historical points explored.  The colors could harken to anything from political cartoons to child’s scribblings, but from what has been discussed so far, the consensus of its major purpose seems to be a representation of dichotomy.  Satrapi shows the division of this Cold War narrative in the tradition of division- black and white, right and wrong.  This is the larger framework that the conflict in Iran, along with Satrapi’s own life-drama there and elsewhere, plays out.  For sixty years, the world was being divided by the machinations of two superpowers, with all the individuals and ideas in that period acting as pawns of varying size and influence, or trying to free themselves from the deadly game.

No matter which side Satrapi is on during her life, it is always the right one.  Religion, communism, anarchy, modern living- she is always convinced that whatever she does is correct.  This mindset is a reflection of the polarized era that penetrated virtually all of civilization during that period, and this is what resonates in the doodle-like nature of the art.  Understanding this rather insane world is tough for even the most world-weary, as shown by all of Satrapi’s role models eventually failing or dying.  The polarization results in  a constant stalemate, an infinite war that only results in more casualties, on the literal battlefield and off.

Searchers – Eisner Award

I noticed that Jimmy Corrigan won the Eisner Award in two categories – Best Publication Design and Best Graphic Album: Reprint.  Looking at some of the other titles that won in those categories, I found that all three of our previous authors (Miller, Moore, and Speigelman) won Best Graphic Album: Reprint, but only Ware won Best Publication Design (300 did win this award, but the credit was not Miller’s).  I also found that the edition of Uzumaki we’ll be reading was passed up for an Eisner (http://manga.about.com/od/recommendedreading/tp/2009EisnerMisses.03.htm).  There’s only one category it could be considered for (Best US Edition of International Material – Japan), which is why it only has one nomination.  It got me thinking on the nature of the comic awards, the criteria and so forth.  The Awards are run by Comic-Con, who funds the awards with donations from “distributors, retailers, media companies, and such industry suppliers as major printers of comics.” (http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisnersfaq.shtml#oscars).  I despise conspiracy theories, but the awards seem to be much closer to a commercial venture, a giant advertising ploy, then a pure exmination of artistic merit.  The awards are dominated by DC, especially in categories like Best Story or the two Best Series’.  There really isn’t any direct criteria- the judges receive the nominations, send out ballots to people in the comic industry, and tally the results.  It’s unsettling to think that while these comics may truly have artistic merit, their recognition is not quite art-based.

First Reader – Jewish-American Gothic – Seth W.

It’s hard to explain, but Maus unsettles me in a way that neither Watchmen nor DKR could.  Maybe it’s that this story is based much closer to reality, but I think it’s just the sheer moral ambiguity and uncertainty that permeates all the characters’ actions.  Vladek’s opportunism and Art’s enthusiastic reactions to getting the material stand out the most in this respect.  Vladek’s attitudes towards relationships and life in general is well-summed up by Mala’s outburst at the end of chapter four, and seems to illustrate his behavior from his own introduction up to our current stopping point.  Everything is so much more personal.

The narration is a little confused, a mix of unreliable first person and limited-omniscient third person (the text boxes and the art/speech bubbles).  Still, this adds to the ambiguity of the entire narrative.  There’s no clear way to say that people are doing the right or wrong things to this point, or even if such distinctions apply given the horrific circumstances.

The art itself is mesmerizing.  It’s abstract in purest form, almost absurdist.  Who would think of writing a comic book about the Holocaust starring funny animals?  It makes no sense to the point where it makes perfect sense.  Irrational divisions defined the whole affair on all sides, and the mental absurdity takes form in the distinctions between nationalities and ethnicities that aren’t actually an integral part of the story.  The Jewish characters during the Nazi occupation wear Stars of David; Vladek appears to wear a stationary pig mask to appear Polish.  The species of the characters do not reflect any actual distinctions; this is an abstraction that makes the whole story all the more terrifying.  How exactly is this piece supposed to make the reader feel?  It’s unsettling and strange.

Response to “Under the Hood and Tragic Comedians” – Seth W.

I would agree and argue that all of the inter-chapter text serves to enhance the story and, in fact, operates as an intergral part of it.  Watchmen is not one narrative, but a series of conjoined stories that only come together as the finished product when read and grouped together.   The main sections of the comic are much poorer for the lack of supporting material; some would call it pace-breaking exposition, but in the long run, how much of a pace does the comic really have?

“Under the Hood” cements the point of deviation from the original timeline (what we’d call “the real world”), and adds what seems to be a voice of sanity in the midst of a collapsing world.  It is part of Moore’s critique of comics and their characters, and probably the origin of the now-famous “no capes” trope, regarding Mason’s attitude towards Dollar Bill’s costume-driven demise, the victim of a marketing ploy.  Comic companies strive for success in the same ways, sacrificing character development, story, and quality artwork for reader enticements (“This issue, someone DIES!!!  Or maybe they come back to life.  We’re really not sure anymore.  Please buy it anyways!”).

Batman as Fascist?

http://plover.net/~bonds/comics.html#batman

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted up, but I hope the article is worth it.  I figured since we have a class with many a fan in attendence, a piece that challenges DKR’s place as a seminal work would be the best way to go.  Bond makes the case that Miller’s portrayal of society, crime, and art are all equally skewed by a fervently fascistic bent.  This is a pretty common question about comics from the eighties and ninties; as the works go “darker and edgier”, the shadow of Nazis and other horrifying groups are always raised, and often with good reason.  Is Batman portrayed as a fascist in a positive light by Miller?  Probably.  We just have to figure out what that means for ourselves as readers.