Stereotype and Representation: Response to American Born Chinese and King

This entry is about stereotypical representation in comics. I likened American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang to Blankets in some ways, mostly the adolescent character figuring out who they are except that this deals with being born into an specific ethnic minority. The breaking up of the stories into three different parts helps to solidify this idea of more than one side of a person; the classic influence of culture and family ties and the more contemporary melting pot scenario. For example, the juxtaposition of the classic chinese folk-tale of the Monkey King and the more modern day story line of Jin and his troubles of fitting in at school. Though Gene Luen Yang definitely toys with ethnic stereotypes (see below), I adore the graphic visual quality of the American Born Chinese.

King by Ho Che Anderson has been one of the most striking reads for me all semester. A biographical depiction of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. it is interesting that Anderson's portrayal of King is a tad edgier than the King that is presented to the world and that we get to hear different views on him as well. Working with the different side of King is the visual style, which I think is brilliant. I love graphic style and experimentation and my favorite panels are the ones with simple extreme contrast black and white. Perhaps I am too conceptual a thinker but I love how in those panels because of the contrast there is little difference in skin tone is an amazing device to make the point that there is no difference. Skin is skin. Brilliant!

Response to Barefoot Gen

The in class showing was the first time that I had ever even heard of Barefoot Gen. I was intrigued by the story but didn't fully understand what I was watching until about half-way through. I enjoyed the pairing of this film with Maus by Art Spiegelman. It was really fascinating to compare to pieces of graphic narrative that were not only about the same time period but were also biographical/autobiographical. Though not exactly about the same event, they were about atrocities against humans by other humans.

The film starts us off by meeting Gen and his family. They are in an uncertain situation; food is an extreme issue because of rationing and because his mother is pregnant with a fourth child. Though there is some issues for the family, for the most part they are happy and all seems right with the world. Until one night when a plane flies over and they must get into a bomb shelter. At that point I would begin to understand the situation and what would happen.

HOWEVER, I was not prepared when the bomb was dropped. The visual style was fairly light hearted until that happened. When it was dropped, not only did the tone of the story change but the depictions of what happens to a person in a nuclear blast were extremely factual and detailed. I was caught way off guard especially in the morning class! This amount of realism brought me back to the truth of what happened to these people. It was really interesting to see the transitions between the life of Gen and then the horrors of the fallout/war.

This was a great follow up to Maus to show how comics/cartoons/anime can talk about legitimate issues in a genuine and meaningful way. I look forward to eventually watching Grave of the Fireflies to also compare with these two pieces.

Reponse to Maus

Maus Vol 1 & 2 by Art Spiegelman was an interesting read for me because The Holocaust seems to keep popping up into my life. I have done numerous studies on it and taken three classes. The most compelling part of my Holocaust studies was when I had to do an art project on it my freshman year of high school. We took a trip up to the Holocaust museum in St. Petersburg and were then asked to use our artistic abilities to create a tone and tell a story about the Holocaust.

I really made a connection to Maus because this is what that project was all about: an artistic expression of how the experiences of the Holocaust affected lives. It just happens that this is also a biographical story being told as well. The most intriguing thing for me was that though the subject matter was extremely heavy, I often did not feel like it was weighing me down. I would certainly attribute that to two things. The fact that the piece is a comic takes you out of the reality of the situation. I think it maybe that preconceived notion that comics aren't serious, which of course can be challenged. However the fact that Spiegelman used different animals to differentiate between ethnicities, nationalities and even vocations lent itself to the fantastic quality of Maus. Every kid knows that the personification of animals is endearing. I would like to think this was deliberate to showcase that the story is being imagined throught the eyes of a child. Visually I think the line quality is very fluid. There is a lot of motion just in his use of line and shading. What I think is brilliant is how Spiegelman has used panels to crop and showcase specific moments of great significance.

Example of using cropping to frame.

Though there were obvious creative liberties with the visual quality of Maus, what throws you right back into the seriousness is the story itself. From the behavior of the father, a cold and difficult character because of what he went through, to the events that happened to him, the story is still about how a human being survived a mass extermination of an ethnic group by another group of human beings.

After reading Maus I have decided that it was a very enjoyable read and another engaging Holocaust study. I think it was an alternative view of the Holocaust that just adds to the poignancy of what happening to so many people, including the father of Art Spiegelman. It was brave and very touching for him to take on a project like this.

Response to Underground Comics

It was not a far stretch for me to assume that underground comics were going to be different from anything else we have read for this class, they are underground for a reason. It must be taken with a grain of salt. A great deal of the content deals with sexual situations and drug use, which hearkens to the time in which they were written, a time of breaking free from normal conventions. But also a time of people trying to keep that kind of stuff away from mainstream media.

It is obvious that the artists and writers of underground comics had fun. Along with the thought provoking (ahem) subject matter, most of the comics that I looked at have a fun loose quality to their line work - nothing seems to be taken too seriously.

While there is a loose quality to these comics, within the writing a lot of them send to be satire or cynical in some way. There is an edge to them that goes with out saying when something is not mainstream. They are thought provoking,innovative and even controversial. A very enjoyable study.

Response to Blankets - Craig Thomson

I was extremely excited to read Blankets because I have been told countless times by many of my friends what an amazing and enjoyable read it is. So without any pressure whatsoever, I sat down to read it.

I found it interesting that there is a similar quality to the visuals of both Craig Thomson's work and Will Eisner's in that they are black and white and both have line quality that is extremely kinetic. While Eisner's is much more sharp, there is a gentler, softer quality to Thomspon's. I found his characters to be charming, simple and iconic. His illustrations are also very emotive in that the reader doesn't only understand the action taking place, they get the feeling of that character and their reaction to the situation.

The story was one that almost every person, including Thomson since it is fairly autobiographical, can relate to when moving from childhood into adulthood. It deals with subject matter like bullying, faith and love. Like discussed in McCloud, it seems to be a good thing that his characters are simplified so the reader can connect themselves with Craig's adolescent experiences. Everyone has felt out of place and longing for someone who won't connect in the same way. Though the comic doesn't necessarily end on a high note like most would like, it does teach a life lesson of the more likely scenario. It's bittersweet.

It is better to have loved and...

Response to Will Eisner - A Contract with God

When I read the assignment on the Literature of Comics Blog to read some Will Eisner, I already had what my response would be in my head. I assumed based on the look of his signature and his name being the same as Michael Eisner, that he would be a part of the Disney family, like Carl Barks, and have works that were wholesome and have talking animal of some sort. When I started to read "A Contract with God", I realized immediately that I was wrong based on the first illustration of a group of people walking toward an old building or even perhaps the scenes of sexual activity later on.

I first found it interesting that there were multiple short stories that were extremely solemn and seem to be put together for a bigger meaning. They have a little bit of a more mature tone to them talking about spiritual beliefs and the everyday lives of those in the tenements of the Bronx. After doing some research it is obvious that Eisner takes some inspiration from his experiences growing up there.

I really enjoyed that there is really no structure to the panels, if you think of it in typical comic layout. Most of the illustration are free on the page and not contained by a bounding box. I think that this works really well with Eisner's illustration style, which has a lot of movement because of his use of lines. I also enjoy how he uses light and shadows for emphasis since he doesn't use color. My favorite touch is when he works with expressive typography next to the illustration, not just the normal "comic book type".

Response to Early Comic Books: EC, Barks and Herge

This was a great assignment, not only because we were asked to read comics books as an assignment but because I was able to reminisce about my experiences. It was interesting because all three of the readings assigned I have encountered before. As stated in a previous post, one of my larger projects in my graphic design studio was branding a fictional museum dedicated to Comics. While conducting my research I stumbled upon EC comics, though I may not have known it at the time. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to recognize some of the covers and styles during this assignment. remember wanting to read them then and now I was able to. I am most intrigued by the Tales from the Crypt series, which is the most notable and recognizable, especially because of the TV show adaptation. It was certainly a part of my childhood. Disney was also definitely apart of my childhood and it was super interesting to discover that the character of Donald Duck and his many forms (Uncle Scrooge, etc.)r was a comic book and drawn by Carl Barks.

The most exciting part of the assignment was the Tintin readings. I understand that Tintin was never that popular in the United States, which I find really unfortunate. I was introduced to Tintin by my grandmother around the same time as my father introduced me to Indiana Jones. I just remember associated the two of them because of their obvious sense of adventure and dynamic stories. I find the character of Tintin relatable and engaging, his youth and intellect allowing him to outwit opponents and solve mysteries. There is also an endearing quality to the illustration style: simple, yet effective.