Post Comics Class Opinions

I took this class in hopes of discovering some sort of deep hidden love for comic books I didn't know existed. Sadly this did not happen! I knew I wasn't a fan of them from what I'd seen but I was hoping to be swayed. I kept an open mind and read most of everything that was assigned. I will say I did find a few comics I do like a lot, but the majority of them I didn't. I did find out that I really love autobiographical graphic novels though! I guess that shouldn't have come as a surprise since my favorite genre of books is the same, just without art. I do not like comics having to do with superheroes and I still despise Manga.

My favorite comics from the class are (in no particular order):

Blankets

The Arrival

Diary of a Teenage Girl

JTHM

Peanuts

Persepolis

Maus I and II

So I guess it was a bit successful? At least I tried..

Diary of a Teenage Girl revisited

Diary of a Teenage Girl was a devastating and touching memoir and I really enjoyed this book. Maybe it is because I am a sucker for memoirs, especially ones about growing up and drug use but there was something about this book that kept drawing me in. It was really nice to have a female perspective on growing up, as most of the memoirs I've read that deal with drugs and sex are told by males. It is not often women novelists are so honest and open about their sexuality and opinions. I do think my generation is a lot more accepting of these issues, but the time that she was writing these things were very different, especially for girls.

What was so fascinating about Minnie was her "rawness." She was so free and honest. She wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of her desires, but rather acted on them quite frequently without apology or remorse. I really appreciated this novel because it wasn't censored or colorfully painted over. It is hard to believe Minnie was barely 16 years old when she was involved in this type of "adult" behavior. It is even harder to believe she was only 16 when she wrote most of the diary. She writes with a sense of maturity and sounds a lot older than she really is which is funny because I think she thought of herself as an adult to begin with. But really a lot of her actions are very immature even though her vernacular wasn't.

Her relationship with Monroe disgusted me, as it would most people with ideas about morality. Most of the men in this book seemed a bit corrupt, probably because her Mother tended to draw these types of men in. Monroe used her purely for his own sick fetishes and lead Minnie on. The poor girl was in love with him and was deeply tormented by his lack of affection outside the bedroom, which is what irked me so much. It is appalling how her Mother reacted to the situation. Any non doped up Mother would have kicked Monroe out of her life or worse, turned him into the police if she found out what he was doing with her underage daughter. It is sick how emotionless some of the people in her life were, especially her Mother. She was unsupportive and aloof. Minnie needed structure and affection and since her Mother wasn't proving any of that, she turned to men for it. It really is heartbreaking because you see how the Mother's actions, or lack thereof, affected Minnie and her sister Gretel in different ways. Minnie used sex as her outlet, Gretel used food. Both are dangerous and unfortunate.

I am so glad she grew up and was able to redeem herself and live a successful life despite her dysfunctional childhood. Minnie was easy to love and to side with. I really didn't want the book to end, especially how abruptly it did. It is interesting that the author, Phoebe denies the book being autobiographical even though it really is. I guess she doesn't want to admit it to herself, or she isn't ready to yet. I really wish there were a sequel though. I wonder if she continued writing in a new diary? It would be interesting to see her progression from teenager into adulthood and see how she overcomes her issues, or if she ever really does.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

I absolutely LOVED this graphic novel. After I gave up on Watchmen, I immediately started reading this book and it was a very different experience. I was reading it fast and comprehending what was going on. My only complaint about the novel is the font they used. It was very hard to read and I found myself smashing the book against my face to try to see it. But other than that it was great. I usually am not fond of violent books or ones dealing with torture, but this one was done in such a way that it was more comical than gruesome. I loved Johnny's character and personality. He was so ridiculous it was hard not to sympathize with him and care for him.

And of course I loved Squee! I remember seeing that Squee has comic books too? I will have to check those out. Johnny's relationship with Squee was one of my favorite parts of the novel. It was so one sided, but it was funny to see Johnny's affections towards him in contrast to his hatred of humanity. I had the director's cut so I'm not sure if there were different things in mine than other books, but I loved the addition of Happy Noodle Boy comics. They were so absurd! They reminded me of a video on Youtube called "Rejected Commercials" by Don Hertzfeldt. I wonder if

Herzfeldt was inspired by Johnny? I'd really like to read more if there are any.

The comic was so twisted and ridiculous it was hard not to like. He never got caught and I guess it is because he was killing "unmemorable people." He was killing people people probably hated anyway. People others wish they could kill themselves. Johnny was a bit insane though, moreso schizophrenic I think. Talking to a nail

bunny and doughboys.. painting the wall with blood so that giant monster wouldn't come out. The poor guy needed some serious help! But he was too funny to fix, it would be a shame to waste such perfect insanity.

Watchmen

Even though I hate comics about "superheroes" and "crime fighting" I thought I would give Watchmen a try. It reminded me why I hate them so much. I just could not get into this comic no matter how hard I tried.
I barely made it to 50 pages and I'd spent hours trying to like it. I don't know what it is but I just cannot get myself to like these types of books. They are tolerable in the theaters, but when written down
something happens.

I found this book to be very confusing and hard to follow. I had to look up characters several times on the internet to
figure out what was going on and who they were talking about. I spent more time going back in the book and searching for plot explanations online than actually reading. It was a painful experience to say the least. Granted the art was really catchy and the colors were vivd, but the story was not for me. I found the dialogue to be very corny and
irritating. Maybe if I had read this before all the major superhero movies came out I could appreciate it for being original, but after being bombarded with movies of the same genre, it just came off as trying too hard. I would like to see the movie, as I hear it is amazing but for now I am putting the book down before it is rewarded with anymore of my disdain. I think I will just have to accept that these types of comics are not for me, which is a shame because I love Sin City and 300 so much. Maybe those are different?

Daddy's Girl

This book was beyond disturbing. I had no idea it was going to be about incest and sexual abuse when I picked it up. Besides being disturbing, I was bothered by how short the story was. I felt the author could have gone deeper and really put together a great story but maybe she wasn't ready to. I believe I read this was autobiographical, which is just depressing. It was very hard to read and the imagery was definitely graphic. It is deceiving because it looks like a children's book at first glance, but if a child ever got a hold of it they would be scarred for life.

It was a moving story but I must say I had a hard time reading it and not just because of the content, but because all the sisters looked the same and I had no idea what was going on at certain points. I just could not follow the story
line with the sisters. Did the father only molest Lilly or the others as well? And why was the Mother so morose and uncaring? The entire book was upsetting and I have no idea how Debbie Dreschler dealt with that growing up. It is sick. I read some interviews with her and she used the book as therapy. She is very brave to put her story out there
for everyone to see, I know a lot of victims of sexual abuse keep it internalized but it is good that she let it out. I do wonder what her family members and close friends think about her work, as I wonder that about many authors' families and friends. I think I will have to re read this story to fully understand it because when I first sat
down I didn't even know what to brace myself for.

Diary of a Teenage Girl

I bought this book a few years ago for Contemporary Literature but never got a chance to read it, so I was excited when I saw it on thelist for this class. Despite the abrupt ending I really enjoyed this book. Maybe it is because I am a sucker for memoirs, especially onesabout growing up and drug use but there was something about this book that kept drawing me in. It was really nice to have a female perspective on growing up, as most of the memoirs I've read that deal with drugs and sex are told by males. What was so fascinating about Minnie was her honestly and openness about her sexuality. She wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of her desires, but rather acted on them quite frequently.

Of course Monroe disgusted me, as he would most people with ideas about morality. Most of the men in this book seemed a bit corrupt, probably because her Mother tended to draw these types of men in. Monroe used her purely for his own sick fetishes and lead Minnie on. The poor girl was in love with him and was deeply tormented by his lack of affection outside the bedroom, which is what irked me so much. It is appalling how her Mother reacted to the situation. Any non doped up Mother would have kicked Monroe out of her life or worse, turned him into the police if she found out what he was doing with her underage daughter. It is sick how emotionless some of the people in
her life were.

I am so glad she grew up and was able to redeem herself and live a successful life despite her dysfunctional childhood. I love how she never apologized for anything, then again it was her diary. Minnie was easy to love and to side with. I really didn't want the book to end, especially how it did. It is interesting that the author, Phoebe denies the book being autobiographical even though it really

is. I guess she doesn't want to admit it to herself. I really wish there were a sequel though. I will have to check out some of her other works and in the mean time continue reading her blog.

Persepolis

I had always wanted to read Persepolis, so when I saw it on the reading list I was excited. It started out a little slow for me. I wasn't expecting it to be so historical and it kind of turned me off at first. I probably should have read what the actual book was about before starting because it caught me off guard how political it was. Once I got over that the book was politically serious I really started to enjoy it. I had a hard time because I'm used to loving the main characters but this experience was different for me.

I found Marji extremely obnoxious and shallow in the beginning. She was sort of a follower and a know-it-all. I had to keep reminding myself how young she was because it was hard to relate to her. As she grew up and became more rebellious and non conformist I started to truly care for her.

Persepolis opened my eyes to a world I had known nothing of. I knew nothing of the Islamic Revolution before and I assumed the women had always been veiled. It made me feel ignorant but it was a good realization because the novel educated me on the people or Iran, not just the leaders. I was surprised how incredibly modern everything was. I really had no idea how westernized everything was. I loved how daring Marji was in showing off her denim jacket and Michael Jackson accessories. She stood up for herself and it was hilarious when she slapped her teacher! Her and her family were very lucky to not be harmed because they were close so many times. I was sad when the book ended but I am glad to know there is a Persepolis 2 AND a movie! I will check them both out.

Underground Comics/ Maus I and II

Underground Comics
I really tried to like these but they just angered me! Maybe it's a generational issue because none of these topics are taboo to me; none of them shock me. In fact they're so corny to me they make me angry. They're incredibly sexist too, even the ones written my women it seems. I don't know what kind of lives these people live, but women don't just start making out with each other out of nowhere. It seems like these were just porn fantasies for men. The drug ones weren't as irritating as the sexual ones, but I still couldn't get into them. I don't see how people could be turned on by these stories? They are CARTOONS! Maybe I'll just never understand that phenomenon. Don't even get me started on Hentai. To each his own I suppose, but it's just sick to me. I wouldn't call myself a "femi nazi" by any means but these comics seriously offended me. I couldn't even get past a few pages of most of them because every time I started kind of getting into it there would be a random sex scene. Anyways, I gave up on Underground comics and decided to read Maus I and Maus II instead. I knew I would love these because I read the first one in High School and never got to read the second one.

The stories of Maus are so interesting and beyond historical reasons. I love the relationship between Vladek and Artie, mostly because it reminds me so much of my family, who are also Jewish. Vladek was just like my Grandpa. He didn't have to endure the Holocaust but he was a child of the depression and when he died, my father emptied his and his mother's apartment. They literally saved EVERYTHING. They saved every piece of junk mail ever received. They had over $2000 worth of coins throughout the house and a bunch of other junk they were saving in case another depression happened. The junk mail rational was that it would be good toilet paper if it got down to that. It is just so crazy to hear about people like that but we have to understand their rationale; they came from different worlds that we will never be able to fully comprehend. It was really touching because Artie tried so hard to make up for Richieu's death, which often happened with children of survivors. A lot of survivors took their anger out on their children because they were upset about losing their previous children to the Holocaust. A lot of survivor's children felt the need to live up to impossible expectations because they simply felt guilty and felt they needed to pay for what their parents had to endure. They felt guilty that their lives were so easy compared to their parents and therefore never felt adequate enough; they were living in their dead sibling's shadows.

Something interesting that happened during the story is that I started picturing the Holocaust in animalistic terms. I really saw Jews as mice and cats as Nazi's. It was hard to get back to reality after reading it because Spiegelman really made the Holocaust seem a little more tolerable to read. I feel it was very effective doing this because young children could read these books and not be terrified and given nightmares while still learning the atrocities of the Holocaust. It was truly horrific but these novels make it a lot more bearable to read about. It is still amazing to me how people had the strength to survive it. I feel really fortunate to be the last generation to be able to actually meet a survivor, but it is also sad because younger generations will never be able to. I know someone who survived the Holocaust when she was a very young girl and I can't even fathom the horrors she had to experience.

Blankets

I absolutely loved this graphic novel. Despite the fact that I have a love affair with coming-of-age novels it was really moving in other ways. The main character, Craig was relate-able and he made it easy to care about him. He was so honest and mold-able. There is a raw emotion about youth that really captures me. I like that it didn't only deal with first love.

It dealt with growing up as sort of a wallflower, not really fitting in and constantly being picked on because of it. I was instantly drawn to him and cared about his feelings. It also dealt with a battle with religion and family. His parents were very religious and the type that taught to "Fear God." You see throughout the novel the direct battle he faces everyday with doing the "right" thing and not the wrong. He really lived in fear of hell and altered his desires and thoughts to insure he didn't commit sin. I really loved the relationship he had with his brother as well. He realizes that being forced to share the same bed really defined his childhood. He always had someone there with him, to share his fears and imaginative fun. In the beginning he seems to express disdain towards the idea and wishes he could have his own bed, but as he gets older he really appreciates the times he spent with his brother.

And of course seeing his relationship spark, sizzle, and eventually burn out with Raina made the novel really easy to love. Everyone experiences first love and most people think they will marry their first love. The passion and blind naivety that surrounds first love is really fascinating. It is the purest emotion most people will ever feel and when it ends it is devastating. Of course I was hoping their relationship would last and they would get married and have a white picket fence and 2.1 children, but that is just not how reality works. With the exception of a few percentage of people, first loves rarely last until the altar and I felt like I had to deal with that harsh reality all over again while reading this novel.

I did find it weird that the father walked in on Raina and Craig in a naked embrace and never said anything though. He must have been embarrassed or something because I'm pretty sure my Dad would have shot Craig if it were me. Then again I feel like really religious people tend to turn a blind eye to stuff like that. They're so easy to preach and judge but when it comes down to it I feel they are ashamed and embarrassed when they are confronted with sin. I really want to see what other novels the author has written and if there will possibly be a sequel because I was left wanting to know more.

Jack Cole and Plastic Man

I was expecting to really dislike this comic book based on the fact that it was an action/adventure type. I didn't love it but I also didn't hate it either which really surprised me. It was extremely easy to read and I found myself being amused at certain points. I especially enjoyed Woozy's character. He was so amusing and it was interesting that Plastic Man and him were friends. He was always getting into trouble and somehow helping Plastic Man in the process. I didn't particularly like Plastic Man's character because I found him very unrelateable.
Being able to relate to characters really helps reading and I figure that is probably why I dislike hero comics so much. The characters have all sorts of abilities that I find it really hard to relate to. I'm not sure I can really even make that statement because I've never tried to read a hero comic book and I do like the Spiderman movies and growing up I liked Batman but was never fond of Superman. I just feel like the stories set an unobtainable standard for young kids to try to be "super" or "invincible." Then again everyone needs a little escape from reality and that's where the stories really shine. There also always seems to be a moral that they are trying to push in these types of books and the battle with "good" and "evil" which I find to be irritating and misleading. It teaches that good will always triumph over evil which just isn't always true. Sometimes the bad people do win and that's just the sad reality of the world. I'm glad I read it so that now I'm not so close minded to comic books like these but I'm not sure it completely changed my opinion on them. The book I bought had articles intermixed about Jack Cole and I found those to be very interesting because they showed other kinds of art he was involved with and gave an idea about the style and personality of the artist.

Krazy Kat, Peanuts, Little Nemo

I read Krazy Kat, Peanuts, and Little Nemo; or should I say I tried to?

I might need to re-read Krazy Kat because I had such a hard time deciphering the actual typography that I got fed up quickly and stopped reading it. It reminded me of something I've seen in Looney Tunes but I'm not sure which came first. I was not a big fan of it, but maybe if the font was different I would feel differently? I did like the illustrations. I'm really trying to be open minded with comic books but so far I'm still not a big fan.

What surprised me was how much I enjoyed the Peanuts comics! For some reason I've never read them before and it's a shame because they're hilarious! I can't get enough of them and I keep trying to find more to read. I love the dry sense of humor and quick little witty statements. The absence of any adult figure is intriguing and I wonder why a lot of comics/cartoons in general avoid having any sort of prominent authority figures within their stories? Is it because they are not gearing the stories towards adults? I am really glad I chose to read these. I thought because of the minimalist line drawings I would not like it but that didn't bother me at all because the content is so strong.

I'm still iffy on Little Nemo in Slumberland. I actually ordered the DVD thinking it was the book so I was already kind of annoyed with it before I started. I wish I had known the backstory to Little Nemo before reading it because I had no idea how old it was or anything about the artist. I wasn't too fond of the simple dialogue.;It was very childish and boring. I loved the illustration though so I'm torn. I did get a chance to watch the DVD and it was quite scary but good! Going into class I really disliked Little Nemo but coming out after learning about the artist I started to see it differently.

So far my feelings on comic books have not been changed. They seem like mindless entertainment with the exception of a few. I much prefer thought provoking novels. I feel like when you add images the imagination and magic is kind of lost and the dialogue is dumbed down. I hope the rest of the reading list can change my mind. Nothing compares to "The Arrival" yet.

Understand Comics

I didn't hate Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, but I didn't necessarily like it either. While I did find it very informative I also found it quite repetitive. A lot of my preconceived notions about this book were wrong. I was not expecting this to read like a textbook, nor was I aware it was informational. There's nothing with being informational and there's definitely nothing wrong with gaining knowledge in any aspect, but it is just not what I was expecting.

A lot of people in class think the author is a "tool." I didn't get that at all. I found him to be extremely friendly and eager to help. His extensive knowledge on the history of comics as well as the creative aspects of comics was very impressive and I'd be lying if I said I didn't learn something because I learned more than I ever wanted to know about comics. However for someone who already believes in comics as a valid source of art, this book reads like a desperate persuasion. At times it feels like he is whacking you over the head with his opinions and forcing you to agree with him. If I were a skeptic on comics or had no idea what classified art and what didn't I would have thought this book to be a revelation, but since I already respect its presence in the art world I really was not that moved by it.

I really LOVED Shaun Tan's "The Arrival" though. I could not say enough great things about it! Besides its obvious spectacular illustrations, the message it conveyed was extremely thought provoking. As someone who does not read comics or graphic narratives much, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it. I loved the concept of the foreign land; it could have represented anywhere and I respect that he made up a land instead of using one that is recognizable. What is so great about the imagery is the fact that it is unrecognizable to anyone who encounters it. It really shows a great sensitivity to immigration by not only making the characters uncomfortable and frightened by the strange land, but also making the reader uncomfortable and unsure and well.