Tag Archives: first readers

First Reader: Strangeness of In My Darkest Hour

This was such a strange read for me. I had to read it twice to understand what was going on. Everything from the characters to the illustration is so different, but at the same time, it all felt very realistic. The coloring of the panels in the beginning against the similar color of the illustration was harsh on my eyes, but I could see the simplicity of the brush strokes Santiago uses in the illustrations. The other thing that struck me about the art style was the way some things like signs, logos, or magazines that are widely recognized are much clearer than the surrounding illustration as if they were shrunk into the frame instead of drawn.

The character Omar seems so miserable throughout the book. He hates his job and doesn’t see it helping him get anywhere. He’s terrified to commit to a career path that will get him away from his job like culinary school or art classes. I think that commitment problem also extends to his relationship with his girlfriend Lucinda. Even though they’ve been together for two years, he continues to flirt with other women and downplay his relationship. His drug and alcohol consumption seems to be the only thing that makes him happy. It seems like he only uses to help ease his depression for short periods of time. I found myself waiting for Omar to come to some tragic end since he seemed to going in this downward spiral for most of the book, but I was happy that didn’t turn out to be the case. Omar’s inner monologue added to the realistic feel of the novel as a whole. His musings have a philosophical tinge to them, very contemplative about the world and people and why things happen the way that they do and what it all means. He tries to make sense of the world as if he thinks it’ll help him make sense of his own life and figure out who he is. It makes me wonder what happened in his life that we don’t see in the novel that got him to this point. I know people like Omar who have reached that crisis in their lives where they are unsure about what direction they want their life to go in and end up at a standstill trying to make sense of it all and failing. I think that realization helped me in my attempt to understand the story better on the second read.

The last thing that grabbed me while reading were the random letters and blurred images thrown together on some of the pages. I thought back to when we read Jimmy Corrigan and thought maybe these were supposed to be glimpses into Omar’s skewed idea of reality like how we saw Jimmy’s dreams. I was most curious about the references and images to Christianity splashed in the novel. I wondered if he had a religious upbringing and strayed from his faith and now that he’s lost, the references are his mind’s attempt to get back there in the hopes that it’ll help him.

Leon.L Persepolis

First Readers

After finishing Persepolis,  I’m still trying to figure out what were the main points that I should take away from it. Of course yes, it’s a wonderful autobiography but I believe there are other themes that we should take from it. One thing I’d like to focus upon is the art. The first thing you notice is that it’s in black and white, and that the animation isn’t the best. I think the black and white nature of the comics could draw a direct relation to how there are two sides to the conflict between Iraq and Iran. In the comic there is no gray area between this war, you are either for one side or another. I felt quite strangely about the animation. When she was a kid, I felt the animation suited it very well. It was a war, a revolution, and the experience of death through a kids world. When she was older I felt that the animation didn’t fit in with the adult world. There is a scene in the second part of the book that I’d like to refer to how the kiddy animation style played out but I’ll save it for another time. My opinion of the book isn’t solely about just the imagery. I feel one of the things that I enjoyed in the book that played out consistently well was her narration, and dialogue. Her writing style worked well when she was a child, a teenager, and even surprisingly when she was a more mature adult. This was a fun book, and I’m actually excited to report on this in a few weeks.

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?

First Reader – Maus II: Art’s Relationship with his Parents

In the second book of Maus, we as readers get to explore more of Art’s strained relationship with his father. As miraculous and interesting Vladek’s story in Auschwitz is, so many of my questions about the reading revolve around Art’s relationship with his parents. Early in chapter one on page 14, Art says he’d choose to save his mom from the ovens if he had to choose between his parents. I think this speaks volumes about his relationship with both of his parents.

Respondents: Do you think Art’s decision stems from regret over not having a stronger relationship with his mother before she committed suicide or out of disdain for his father?

I found it interesting that Vladek chose to lie about having a heart attack in order to get Art to come see him rather than flat out telling him that Mala left. Art’s behavior towards his father has made little secret of his feelings towards him (as evidenced in the first book) and Vladek’s acknowledgement of those feelings is really evident in this act of lying. In Vladek, I see the same desire for affection and companionship in his behavior that I saw in my grandparents and sometimes see in my parents. Knowing his time on earth is shorter as his health deteriorates and the years go on, Vladek desire to spend the last of it with Art, the person that matters the most to him, grows immensely. Throughout Art and Francoise’s visit, Vladek drops hints about them staying longer or him moving in with them, but Art is insistent that neither will happen.

Respondents: Do you think Art doesn’t want the responsibility of caring for his father because he feels guilty about the way he treats him?

On page 22, Francoise suggests to Art that Vladek’s experience in Auschwitz is the reason for his anxious behavior. Art’s answer of “maybe” and explaining his father’s not like any of the other survivors makes me wonder why Art is so unsympathetic to his father’s past and how it’s affected him. Later on page 46, Art expresses his hesitance to draw Aushwitz to his shrink and I wondered if it was because he was afraid of it bringing him closer to his parents and their experience, specifically his father.

Respondents: Why do you think Art feels so hesistant to draw Aushwitz? I think it’s possible that he would not be able to blame his father for his feelings of inadequacy compared to Vladek and his brother Richieu if he understood his father’s perspective.

Setting the scene in Watchmen

It seems that by setting Watchmen in a real, non-fictional location,  New York City (present day when it was published), there is a greater opportunity to create an even more scathing commentary on current social and political issues.  As opposed to the Batman comics which are set in fictional Gotham, Watchmen becomes an even more cynical commentary on the social issues of the time.  The pre-Giuliani NYC of the 1980s had a much higher crime rate than the present NYC (obviously, present day NYC is not devoid of crime and violence) and we see the “grittiness” of that NYC reflected in the NYC presented in Watchmen.  With its references to violent crimes, murder, prostitution and plethora of x-rated venues, I don’t find Watchmen to be too much of a stretch in its portrayal of the environment at that time.  At the same time, the story really does play into the mythology of New York City as a dark, gritty, seedy place filled with despicable people.  Exterior illustrations of the city during daytime are still filled with shadows and dark color so far in chapters 1-3.  For example, the first panel of page 22 shows the sun rising between the buildings and sky scrapers yet the people in the streets are enveloped in black shadows and muted purples.

What is a bit bothersome to me is that in a city as diverse as NYC, Watchmen is really lacking (at least so far) in presenting its characters and society as multicultural.  That I can recall, so far I’ve only seen one black person and that isn’t until chapter 3.  The NYC setting shows some diversity in things like the Indian diner illustrated in the background of a panel.  To me, the lack of diversity is about as strange as the rest of the story of masked avengers and giant, radioactive (?) blue men.  Sidenote: I find Dr. Manhattan to be the most interesting character so far as he is the only Watchman with actual “superhuman” powers.

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.