Response to Comic Strips

Comic Strips are easy to love...

It is simply amazing how attached we can get to a little series of boxes that takes no time at all to read. However with each "episode" we remeber and empathize with the characters and their shenanigans. This week's reading assignment was a simple joy to partake in. Most likely because the very idea of reading comic strips just brings back memories for me; which I imagine is true for a majority of people.

Like many people my age, my encounters with newspapers have been limited. However in high school, the local paper gave the school a pile for the students to read and become involved with. Being in high school, my only interests were the crossword puzzle (I know its lame but I love to do them) and the comics. I remember loving to see what the antics of Hagar, the Get Fuzzy Pets, Bizzaro, of course Garfield, Peanuts and many more would be that day.

What is funny is that, even when we miss them for a time, we can get back into their world instantly. Of course, I graduated high school and when I came to Ringling I don't think I picked up a newspaper until this past summer when I had an internship at the St. Petersburg Times. There were copies of the paper available for employees each day. Even though I missed out for three years, I still felt as though I knew the characters and hadn't missed anything.

This is the amazing thing about comics and what makes a comic strip successful. The idea that is a strip that is about an inch and a half by five inches (I have no idea what the exact measurements are) the reader understands who the characters are and is captured by the events taking place.

Though I have read Calvin and Hobbes before, I have never been introduced to Little Nemo and Krazy Kat. Calvin and Hobbes is always enjoyable. I think that this strip is endearing because of the heart of what is happening. The relationship between the boy (always imaginative and precocious) and his friend a tiger is obviously an interesting one...not only because boy/tiger but their personalities are amusing together. Calvin, who is always getting in some sort of trouble, is balanced by the dry, quick humor of Hobbes. It is also interesting because of how dynamic it is for a comic strip. Though there are antics like any other, it is often very thoughtful and philosophical. Visually it is very dynamic because he plays with different styles to set different tones and show the difference between "real life" and Calvin's imagination. All in all, a super enjoyable comic strip.

Little Nemo was really interesting because of how imaginative and fantastical it is. I really loved the tone, it felt almost like Peter Pan in away. Just pure dreaming and play. Krazy Kat was just cute to me. From what I gather from reading, the story and gag is pretty much the same every time (mouse throwing brick at cat, police dog, etc.) I suppose that this could be become mundane very quickly, but just how it was drawn and the idea of reverse cat and mouse, it just seemed cute to me.

Response to A Harlot's Progress In Class

The discussion in class about A Harlot's Progress was interesting to me because, like many people I assume, I have seen the series before but have never linked it to the world of comics. It makes sense though. It is a sequential narrative about what happens when a young woman falls into the wrong hands at the wrong time. It is simply amazing how detailed each panel is and that because of all these elements it is easy to infer what has happened "between the gutters" so to speak. What I love about the series is that within those details there are several more stories just waiting to be told, like that of the lover or the clergyman.

Response to Scott McLoud's Understanding Comics

Here is a banner series for my Museum of Comics Brand Concept.

Understanding Comics was a very enjoyable read. Overall, the idea that an informative book about comics written as a comic is simple and engaging. In addition, McLoud's writing is amusing with interesting concepts.

The concept introduced in Chapter 2 about humans and how we, as a "self-centered race", tend to see a faces in everything was fairly compelling to me. The idea that there is a simplification of image for reason made me think about some work I had done in my graphic design studio class.

My project was to brand a fictional Museum of Comics and create a proof of concept. Using the idea of escapism I came up with the concept of "Who is behind Your Mask?", which used many of the typical characters you see in comics and hearken to the idea that when one reads a comic book, one essentially becomes part of that world. I applied McCloud's simplification of form to this. Though I didn't mean literally simplifying images, I used the simplification of character. In both of these instances I think people enjoy projecting themselves into these worlds and that is a main joy of comic books. I just like how I was able to connect something I had done in my studio class to what I am reading this semester.

Response to The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The Arrival is an amazing story about the journeys we all take. What makes it even more spectacular is that there are no words so the reader relies completely on the graphics.

The basic story line, the journey of our main character to a new land, is understood fairly quickly because of the image treatment and visual elements. Using what is familiar, classic image quality and recognizable images that hearken to the time of Ellis Island, we understand that this is a story about immigration.

This story works without words for several reasons. The first, which I alluded to before is that the basic visual structure is something that we might have seen before. However as our character continues on his journey, elements are included that are much more fantastical, like the creatures and strange language. I think this is rather brilliant because it allows the reader to connect with the main characters story in that we have arrived at a place we do not understand.

Also because there are no words a lot must be read from the images. Each and every image is not wasted. Each one tells a story through composition and often body language, something that we recognize as humans. Even though there is a main character, above that this is a story about stories. Each and every "immigrant" to this strange new land has their own story, which is shown a few times when our main character encounters new people. We recognize that it is someone else's story simply by changing the background on the page. Our main character's story has a white background while others have a textured or darker background. What also keeps the story visually interesting for me is the macro/ micro cropping of images. I enjoy the cadence created between the panels that are broken up with smaller micro images and then we pull back to a larger image. It adds to the idea of strange, new and adventure by giving a sense of scope to the graphics.

This was a great read that appealed to my visual nature and my sense of adventure.