Author Archives: vaeyn

Respondent: Favorites List

1. Uzumaki
I like manga so Uzumaki was bound to rank high for my list but it was more than that. Uzumaki has a dark mood that slowly smoothers you. The images are striking in all of their gory detail and the book throws things at me that I have seen before (Shuichi’s dad rolled up in the tub). What can I say, the spiral drew me in.

2. Watchmen

The colors are bold and the characters are doubly. I loved the way Watchmen brought the superhero down to our level and rolled it in the mud. Also it was really fun picking out all of those little details that seemed to pop up everywhere. The only thing keeping this from number 1 was the ending, it just sort of deflates there.

3. Fun Home

When I first started my list Fun Home was further down but it crept up. Out of all of biography types of graphic novels we read, I really liked Fun Home the best. I think the way it was not entirely in chronological order made it stand out. Bechdel created this more like a flow of consciousness that while terrible in Jimmy Corrigan was pulled off well here. Interesting characters and attention to detail round out the reasons I liked this.

4. Dark Knight

Female Robin. End Post.

Seriously though the Dark Knight visually was stunning with all of the water colors creating a very muddy and dirty Gotham. The storyline was much more mature than your average Batman, and seeing Superman shriveled up like a raisin made my day.

5. American Born Chinese

The artwork for ABC was very clean and simple. I felt like I was reading something the vein of the TV shows like Dexter’s Lab during the monkey king parts. This was a good thing. Chinky made my day when he was first introduced and I loved how honestly stereotypical he was (which turned out to be a major part of the plot). An interesting story with moral to it rounded this book out.

6. Maus

The story was the major driving point in Maus. I found Vladek’s story captivating in its honesty and detail. The art for Maus would have to be its week point. I liked the few visual easter eggs (like the swastika road), but there just were not enough of them. The characters looked blain and that may have been intentional but it often made it difficult to tell who was who.

7. Persepolis

As with Maus the story was the major driving point for this well, but unlike Maus it was not as compelling. Marjane’s story really starts to drag its heels when she goes to Europe and though it picks up when she comes home I don’t think it ever recaptures the interest I had at the beginning. There are even less visual easter eggs than Maus and the art did not even have the novelty of critter people to make it standout.

8. Jimmy Corrigan

Ugh

Ok I know this was suppose to simulate the confusion of the main character but you know what? Confusion is not pleasant and I really don’t feel like going through a confusing book. I would not have finished this if it were not for class. The main character is also about as unlikeable as you can get, and in a confusing bunch of whatever for a story, a compelling main character could have kept me anchored but no. Jimmy alienated himself from me like few characters have. By the end of the story I was praying for him to spontaneously explode.

First Read: Identity Crisis

I find it interesting that the assigned section covers Marjane’s identity crisis. I don’t know if it what was by design or coincidence but it was nice either way.
The first chapter of the section for the week was The Vegetable. I like how it started off with a very detailed look into the awkwardness of growing into an adult. The self consciousness of how you know they are staring at your foot that is bigger than the other one, or that random mole or blemish. It is an interesting look into the personal fable of all teenagers.
The more Marjane tries to fit in the more she ends up becoming the person everyone else wanted her to be. She cuts her hair to look more punk, and smokes joints because her friends do. There is even a point that she lies about heritage at a bar to just fit in.
She goes back and forth between moments of experimentation and returning to herself. After she gives up the punk look she goes through a brief period of returning to herself, but then she starts dating. It is no longer about pleasing everyone, but instead pleasing that one person. Marjane even goes as far as becoming a drug dealer for Jean Paul.
Finally when she returns home she finds out how far her life in Europe has taken her from what she was. In one scene her girl friends ask her about sex and when Marjane tells them she has had sex with multiple men they call her a whore. She goes from one extreme a sexual revaluation to the repressed ways of the fundamentalists. At this point I think it is when Marjane realizes that her attempts to be accepted in Europe made it so she no longer fit in at home.
I think it is sad to what lengths people will go to fit in. Peer pressure is a powerful thing, even more so when a person is in an experimental stage of their life. In trying to find where she would fit in during her years in Europe, Marjane loses sight of everything she was. The thing I found profound about this section is that this is where the influences of Marjane’s past mix with her present desire to be accepted, and are boiled down in the crucible of her adolescence to leave behind what will solidify into the person she becomes. It is a very personal journey and one she is lucky to survive despite her suicide attempt.
Also just to add about Marjane’s suicide attempt, I wonder if it was something did wholly on her own or was it because of a compounding effect of the drugs. Anti-depressants have a history of provoking suicidal thoughts, even more so for anyone still going through adolescences because of the constant fluctuation of hormones.

Respondent: Paint My Face In Monochrome

I was really taken aback by the quote we looked at in Tuesday’s class. I cannot imagine how anyone could say something so pretentious and just plain wrong. Then again people never fail to surprise.

Needless to say that I defiantly think the art of Persepolis is capable of standing on its own. As I looked through the pages picking panels that I found would look particularly good in a frame on some art exhibit wall I started to analyze the style Satrapi choose to use.

I am no stranger to black and white comics because I am a major fan of manga which is mostly black and white with some gray shading. It seems to me that there a few different reasons why Satrapi choose to black and white. First of all I just don’t think color would have been appropriate for something as serious as this. Color while pretty is just too cheerful, and it would have been more so considering the abstract art style would take on a child’s picture book look if it were rendered in color. The abstract pared down style is essential to Persepolis because like McCloud said the more abstract something is the more people can identify with it. Satrapi’s target audience are non-Iranians, so this style allows the reader to better identify with the main character and her life in Iran. More detailed illustrations while potentially more faithful to the story would only serve to alienate the audience.

I think the monochrome is also a play on irony. Many people will go into Persepolis with a very stilted media biased view of what Iran is like. The first thing that crossed my mind when I thought Iran before reading Persepolis was terrorism and the extremist fundamentalists. Persepolis breaks down this view built up by mass media and really makes it more personal. In short Satrapi lures the reader in with the black and white they are expecting, but then the only place they really find it is in the ink and paper.

Searchers: Old Man Pants

So I pretty much hate Jimmy Corrigan. Let me clarify that statement. I have respect for and understand the book. In fact it is starting to grow on me slowly. What I hate is the character Jimmy Corrigan.

Jimmy is such a spineless twit. He irks my nerves through multiple levels of hell ala Dante’s Inferno. It is his attitude of “I guess so” and uncomfortable “ha ha”. But most of all, and this is shallow I know, it is his look.

His face is picturesque dopey and without a clue. Strangely enough I can forgive that because no one gets to choose their face, (mind you the author could but not the character). The thing that gets me the most is probably his clothes. I mean Jimmy is like 35 or so there he is in old man pants and some old timey shirt/vest combo. Mostly I think it’s the old man pants.

So I decided to devote my searching into the mystery of old man pants.

Here is link to a blog that attempts to answer the question, “Why in God’s green earth would anyone wear old man pants?”

http://fizzleandpop.blogspot.com/2009/08/old-man-pants.html

Indiana Jones and Old Man Pants. Frankly they aren’t that bad, but it still makes me sad to see Indy in them.

http://io9.com/327044/indiana-jones-and-the-old-man-pants

Some random girl who was looking for old man pants. I mean really? I’m too lazy to figure it out but she shows off her find in a few pics and talks about it in her blog.

http://thatraraavis.blogspot.com/2008/10/old-man-pants.html

Recycling is the answer! Below is a link showing a skirt made out of an pair of old man pants.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=277719

Ok, I’m fine now. It is out of my system.

First Reader: The ‘Novel’ in Graphic Novel

When I started reading Maus, I quickly recognized that the artwork while adequate to tell its story was not on the same level as The Dark Knight Returns, or the Watchmen. At first this put me off but after a few pages the art grew on me a bit. While not as evocative as graphic novels and I did some interesting things like the different animals for the different ethnics and Vladek wearing the pig mask when he faked being a non Jewish Polish.
What I noticed above all else though is that Maus reads more like a novel than anything else we have read so far. When I think of the story I see more of my own mental images in my mind than Spiegelman’s art. At first I found this a bit unsual but I kept reading the story really pulled me. Soon I was at ease with the feel of Spiegelman’s work and the pages started to fly by.
The story itself is the strongest point of Maus so far. The dynamic between Art and Vladek as father recounts his story to his son is very relatable and familiar. I often see much of my own relationship with my father play out between the two with their simple family banter. I feel this really made the story more approachable which is important with such a grave plot.
Vladek’s tale is a bit slow at first but picks up when he goes off to war. I found the scene on page 50 to particularly chilling as Vladek shoots an enemy solider disguised as tree and continued to shoot him even after he surrendered. The story only grew more depressing from there, hopefully there will be some light at the end of this tunnel.

Respondent: Free From the Mask?

I also found Chapter 7 to be very intriguing. Laurie and Dan are the two most down to earth of the current Minutemen. Unlike the Comedian, Rorschach, Ozymandias, and Dr Manhattan these two seem to have little problem dropping their masks and living a normal life after the Keene Act. At least that is what it appears at first.

During the ‘Owl Cave’ scene, all Laurie can think of is how great all of Dan’s gadgets are and how they would have been wonderful to have back when she was an adventurer. It is a kid in a candy store moment, but neither is willing to admit just how much they missed life behind the mask.

After the tour of the ‘Owl Cave’ Laurie and Dan have an intimate moment on the couch. I found this a great piece of story work because it was not your typical impassioned idealistic sex, but the awkward experimentation of a new couple. The scene felt very real and Dan’s impotence because of his lack of confidence did much to add depth to his character.

Once they get back into costume though Dan is capable of performing as seen on the last page of Ch. 7. This scene really gets at the fetish like nature of the costume hero which I found interesting. By definition a fetish is some sort of object that is required to arose and perform sexually.

Searcher: Great list of quotes

Th[is] blog is mostly a review which is boring, but not the reason I posted it. Instead I wanted to bring attention to the quotes that are in bold face throughout the blog. One thing I noticed about The Dark Knight Returns is that there is a lot of text everywhere. Someone or something is always talking on each and every page. With just the sheer volume of dialogue it can be a bit overwhelming picking out some of the best lines and quips. Aditya Mani Jha does a good job of picking out some of the best bits of dialogue in the book. My favorite would have to be what Bruce says to himself as he gets ready to become Batman again.

“You are puny….you are small….you are a rusty trap which cannot hold me……feel me within your soul……for I am your soul….smouldering, I burn you….burning you, I flare, hot and bright and fierce and beautiful.”

There are plenty of other good lines in the book, but this one is just so raw, and powerful. It really gets at what is going on inside of Bruce at the time and the word choice is very poetic.

Sean Ferguson