Again, as I continue to read Stuck Rubber Baby, I am so glad we are done with Alan Moore and back into the realm of the realistic. The emotional impact of Cruse's novel is almost as great as the impact Blankets (one of my new "favorite books" on facebook) had on me. Then again, maybe that's because I've been listening to Tupac's "Changes" on a regular basis for the past few days. Anyways...
The way that Cruse lays out some of his pages is fascinating. I believe the opening page of chapter ten (p. 76) is extremely well done. In the background of the page's upper left corner there is an image of Toland looking in at Russell Park, his back to the reader as if he is trapped outside the park, which represents a fight against prejudice, but wants to be let in. In the foreground of the same image is another picture of Toland, this time his face visible to the reader. While this second image of Toland also displays the same sort of longing to be on the other side of the fence, the fence also obstructs his image and gives the reader the sense that Toland's sexuality acts as an entrapment. Directly below this image is a third image of Toland, this time in his present state telling the story directly to the audience. This third image of Toland is placed in front of the fence acting as the younger Toland's cage, representing Toland's eventual capacity to come to terms with his sexuality and escape the feelings of entrapment it causes him. Overall, the way Cruse works with the two images of the fence and the multiple images of Toland in such a symbolic way emphasizes they way that multimodal texts can use images to create additional meanings. Well done, Mr. Cruse!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Stuck Rubber Baby- First Impressions
Again, this is the sort of graphic novel I think I prefer- the kind that focuses on realistic situations and personal issues at an intimate level. I read Howard Cruse's "Acknowledgments" at the end of the novel, and I was surprised to learn that the book is a work of fiction. The realistic quality of the situations in Stuck Rubber Baby is enhanced by the detailed manner with which Cruse describes his characters and their interests, and I assume it would be easy for any reader to think they were reading an illustrated memoir. I have to give major props for that sort of intricacy.
The reading is a bit slower, as the lettering is small and there's a lot of it, but I have to admit I love the way Cruse chooses to bold certain words in almost every text bubble. Just as a poet might use meter to emphasize certain words within a line of verse, Cruse's choice to make certain words bold works to enhance the overall meaning taken away from a single bubble. Maybe I'll elaborate on this using a specific panel for my next post...
The reading is a bit slower, as the lettering is small and there's a lot of it, but I have to admit I love the way Cruse chooses to bold certain words in almost every text bubble. Just as a poet might use meter to emphasize certain words within a line of verse, Cruse's choice to make certain words bold works to enhance the overall meaning taken away from a single bubble. Maybe I'll elaborate on this using a specific panel for my next post...
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Now this is more like it...
I have to say that reading through two of Allen Moore's graphic novels right in a row was a bit of a chore. After reading Blankets, which was one of the more enjoyable works I've ever read for a class at U of I, entering the world of politics and super heroes was sort of a downer. Maybe I just find it easier to relate to things that pertain more obviously to the actual world, cognitive estrangement aside. While I can see how V for Vendetta is easily related to some aspects of America's current political state, I have to say that my deep interest in politics and even some political "conspiracy theories" related to the CFR, New World Order, NAFTA Superhighway, and Security and Prosperity Partnership make me interested in how a country allows itself to become a fascist state, not the problems with fascism itself.
But along comes David Collier's Portraits from Life, with its intense focus on actual personal histories, and I am enjoying the reading again. My favorite two portraits thus far have been of Ethel Catherwood and Grey Owl. Not only have I not heard of these individuals before, but their stories are fairly interesting. My interest in these stories mainly stems from their endings. Collier's depiction of Catherwood at the end of the first portrait is good for a laugh because it seems strange that someone who made such a seemingly profound impact on the world of track and field would become a bitter recluse. I found it similarly funny when Grey Owl punched a man in the face and stated "I'll show you who's a fucking faker!" While these individuals represent important aspects of history and made impacts on the world, they still have their own personal problems to deal with. They are not perfect, and their imperfections are what make them interesting.
But along comes David Collier's Portraits from Life, with its intense focus on actual personal histories, and I am enjoying the reading again. My favorite two portraits thus far have been of Ethel Catherwood and Grey Owl. Not only have I not heard of these individuals before, but their stories are fairly interesting. My interest in these stories mainly stems from their endings. Collier's depiction of Catherwood at the end of the first portrait is good for a laugh because it seems strange that someone who made such a seemingly profound impact on the world of track and field would become a bitter recluse. I found it similarly funny when Grey Owl punched a man in the face and stated "I'll show you who's a fucking faker!" While these individuals represent important aspects of history and made impacts on the world, they still have their own personal problems to deal with. They are not perfect, and their imperfections are what make them interesting.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
V For Vendetta: Between the Panels
Some of my favorite moments in V For Vendetta were moments in which no dialogue was occuring. In Understanding Comics, McCloud discussed having to read between the panels through recognizing different types of transitions, and Moore uses a number of these transitions in V for Vendetta that I believe added to the overall enjoyment I took away from the graphic novel. Unlike Blankets, which used a variety of creatively drawn panels to create meaning, the majority of panels in Moore's book are rectangular in shape, so it is easy to read the lettering while ignoring the visual aspect of the text. However, when no lettering is present for pages at a time, the reader is forced to try to understand the story solely from a visual standpoint, something a graphic novel can acheive that many other modes of writing cannot.
Page 77 of V For Vendetta is a page without lettering that uses multiple types of panel transitions. The page starts with a moment-to-moment transition in which the first two panels are nearly identical drawings of a gun. The third and fourth panels contain a subject-to-subject transition, and the rest of the panels are action-to-action transitions. The uses of these transitions in this order builds a momentum throughout the course of the page without the use of dialogue. Also, the very last portion of the book, entitled Vincent, contains no lettering at all; the entire four pages tell a story through drawings only, and it could be argued that every type of transition McCloud discusses is used other than non-sequitur transitions. It's cool moments like these that really make graphic novels stand out as a legitimate art form.
Page 77 of V For Vendetta is a page without lettering that uses multiple types of panel transitions. The page starts with a moment-to-moment transition in which the first two panels are nearly identical drawings of a gun. The third and fourth panels contain a subject-to-subject transition, and the rest of the panels are action-to-action transitions. The uses of these transitions in this order builds a momentum throughout the course of the page without the use of dialogue. Also, the very last portion of the book, entitled Vincent, contains no lettering at all; the entire four pages tell a story through drawings only, and it could be argued that every type of transition McCloud discusses is used other than non-sequitur transitions. It's cool moments like these that really make graphic novels stand out as a legitimate art form.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A Rant on Ranting
Ok, so I just finished writing my manifesto, and I have to say it was an extremely enjoyable experience. Ranting is something I love to do in my spare time anyway, so having the opportunity to do it as an assignment was fun indeed! Normally it takes me a long while to write essays, but the manifesto encourages a sort of stream-of-consciousness that essays do not permit, and I finished the assignment in record time, feeling like I could have ranted for at least a few more pages.
Having the opportunity to write in a number of formats has been a fairly rewarding experience. The blog, the wiki, the manifesto- while I am used to writing critical essays, I have found experimenting with these other modes of communication to be a good experience overall. In my manifesto, which discusses comics in relation to the writing process, I make the claim that students should be required to make comics of their own in order to think critically about using multimodal formats to create meaning that words alone cannot. For this reason, I am looking forward to the upcoming comic-creation assignment. Hopefully it will be as rewarding as I claim it will be in my manifesto.
Having the opportunity to write in a number of formats has been a fairly rewarding experience. The blog, the wiki, the manifesto- while I am used to writing critical essays, I have found experimenting with these other modes of communication to be a good experience overall. In my manifesto, which discusses comics in relation to the writing process, I make the claim that students should be required to make comics of their own in order to think critically about using multimodal formats to create meaning that words alone cannot. For this reason, I am looking forward to the upcoming comic-creation assignment. Hopefully it will be as rewarding as I claim it will be in my manifesto.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A Short Observation on Color
I guess I never really thought about it until McCloud mentioned it in Understanding Comics, but I don't think I ever fully realized how important bright primary colors are to comics. This is probably because I spent my entire childhood obsessing over Spawn comics, which tend to be very dark, but even Spawn has his iconic bright red cape. Looking back over the old Wonder Woman comics on our wiki, I am noticing that bright reds, yellows, greens and blues make up the primary color scheme of the comics. I find McCloud's argument that these bright color schemes work to promote comics over the numbing black and white newspaper print interesting, but I can't decide if I completely agree. It must be more complicated than that considering the two genres are being tailored to two different audiences. However, I have to admit that the bright primary colors used in some comics have probably significantly helped some super heros (Superman for example) become the cultural icons they are today.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Wonder Wiki
I must admit that the reason I was so quick to raise my hand and volunteer to be in the Wonder Woman wiki group was because I thought it might be easier than some of the other categories. Detective Comics seemed to carry a pretty large scope of material, and there are so many primary characters in X-Men that I figured it would take forever to provide information on all of them. I figured Wonder Woman, on the other hand, is only a single character, so maybe it wouldn't be too hard to grasp all of the information related to her. I was wrong.
First of all, I had no idea before working on the wiki that Wonder Woman is related to Greek mythology. Trying to remember all of the Greek Gods, immortals, and their stories was hard enough in previous classes I have taken, but having to remember them as being part of the backstory to a very complex comic book series is definitely difficult. Previously, I had no idea that Wonder Woman was an Amazon, or that a number of individuals had taken on her role, Hippolyta and Diana being the most prominent. My concept of "the super hero" up until this point (the main references for this concept being Spawn and Batman) had been that "he" was a single individual looking to do harm to villains.
Wonder Woman, on the other hand, is very different in what I believe is a positive way. She carries no weapons that would inflict harm upon her enemies. Rather, she uses "tools" such as her bullet-deflecting bracelets and lasso of truth to promote honesty, empathy, and peaceful coexistence among all people and nations- not something I expected to find in a comic, especially since violence has been so prominent in the comics and comicbook movies I have seen. Despite the fact that I am not accustomed to such material, I find it very admirable and enjoyed researching it very much.
First of all, I had no idea before working on the wiki that Wonder Woman is related to Greek mythology. Trying to remember all of the Greek Gods, immortals, and their stories was hard enough in previous classes I have taken, but having to remember them as being part of the backstory to a very complex comic book series is definitely difficult. Previously, I had no idea that Wonder Woman was an Amazon, or that a number of individuals had taken on her role, Hippolyta and Diana being the most prominent. My concept of "the super hero" up until this point (the main references for this concept being Spawn and Batman) had been that "he" was a single individual looking to do harm to villains.
Wonder Woman, on the other hand, is very different in what I believe is a positive way. She carries no weapons that would inflict harm upon her enemies. Rather, she uses "tools" such as her bullet-deflecting bracelets and lasso of truth to promote honesty, empathy, and peaceful coexistence among all people and nations- not something I expected to find in a comic, especially since violence has been so prominent in the comics and comicbook movies I have seen. Despite the fact that I am not accustomed to such material, I find it very admirable and enjoyed researching it very much.
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