Reconsidering the Super Hero - Promethea

Promethea had a lot of historical symbols and uses of types of materials. There is heavy use of ancient Egyptian gods and concepts. The biggest symbols I noticed while reading the comic were Promethea’s snake staff, the sun symbols on multiple pages, and the playfulness of stretching time. They took the main character and enabled her story to be timeless. Once Promethea’s era began and ended there would be a new Promethea in line to continue the saga.

I loved the little girl in 400 A.D. that was dealing with being on the run after her father was murdered by a radical religious cult. The little girl feels so hopeless and scared but the higher entities visit her and tell her she is full of meaning. She doesn’t need to travel anywhere. Wherever you are, you are part of it and you are in it. I’ve read another book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. These stories have very similar ideas in communicating that we all have that inner richness that can make you feel good. “Gold Soul Theory”, the idea that you do not need any material thing beyond yourself. We see a lot of commonalities in Eastern religions such as Buddhism and how suffering comes from outside of you because of your attachments to the outside world.

I actually loved the comic for what it is. The ink work looked pretty cool but I’ve been seeing some comics with their panels laid out in watercolors. Watercolor comics have always been appealing to my eye. I got to take a look earlier this week into the Arkham Asylum Batman comic. The frames in that book were amazing. The only changes I would make would probably be some areas in the story in regards to writing. I didn’t like how corny it felt when Sophia was telling her friend about how she just turned into the character she was writing about. I get it but it didn’t sit right with me.

Women's Comics

It was interesting looking through the history of women's comics. Many of them strived to show the female perspective in their work. Diary of a Dominatrix was a bizarre comic but it's good that we have something like that so we can get an idea of what that world is like. I found it hilarious how interactive the reader could find themselves in it. Whoever is into the world of BDSM must love it.

Comics as Contemporary Literature

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli has such a unique style with its design and layout. It's simplified color palette makes it so striking and popping. This is a great comic to look at to see the mood shift by a change of temperature or forms. I didn't get to fully read this during the semester but I'm definitely coming back to this one over winter break.

Manga and the Japanese Comics Tradition

Learning about the Manga culture and Japanese lifestyle was probably one of the craziest things this semester. I knew about Manga before this class but I didn't fully comprehend how vast it was. There really is a manga for everyone. I can't believe they practically have a manga for almost every fetish out there. It is pretty impressive honestly. I can understand how people could get freaked out when learning about this culture in Japan but not all the fetish mangas are terrible. I like how there are some with subtle and cutesy approaches like pantsu and yuri manga.

Osamu Tezuka was the original gangsta of manga! It was awesome learning about his work and seeing how much of an influence he made on his nation. I completely understand why more people went to his funeral than the emperor. He was a TRUE master of the art of manga. He is the father of it. Looking into his comic, Buddha Vol. 1, it takes you on a wild ride. His frames say so much with so little. He shows you scenes from so many different angles. I love that there is text but it is very minimal. He would rather let his picture speak what needs to get across for the reader to understand which I admire. If you are loading up a comic spread with a wall of text it's like having to spell everything out for them. I always gravitate to the comics with less text because I'd rather look through all the pictures they produced and decipher what is going on myself.

Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma is a beautiful work. The characters are awesome and it was incredible to see the black and white panda being used to its advantage of the black and white comic. She used him as a wonderful compositional tool. You can tell she was heavily inspired by Tezuka. Her layouts contain so much emotion, movement, and simplicity.

Wide World of Comics

The comics that stood out to me this week were BlackSad and Tank Girl. The artwork in these novels is impeccable. It is very interesting looking at BlackSad after seeing Maus. There seems to be a special quality in disconnecting the character from human form but still having him endure human obstacles we go through. It's as if you get to see something fresh for the first time but it is instantly relatable. A very good way to build up a connection between the artist and reader. I absolutely love the drawing style in both of these comics. Tank Girl is great because many artists today are inspired from it just because of the look. The character design and aesthetic of the comic are wonderful. BlackSad attracted me initially because of its energetic drawing with a simple color palette. You don't notice any dramatic color change besides a temperature shift for a change in feeling. These comics are a really good reference to go back to.

Stereotypes

The idea of stereotypes in comics is like trying to balance on a tightrope. It’s very easier for an artist to try to incorporate a stereotype into his work in hopes of being able to relate to their reader more easily; however, you are sacrificing a little bit of dignity as you deliver a low blow to which ever group you’ve attacked that is part of your human race. I personally think stereotypes are cop-outs for the artists because it’s too easy to put someone down just for your own success. It can be funny for one person but taken personally by the next. Now is it right or wrong? I have no say in that. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. I think everyone in this world has been exposed to ideas like these for so long that it is near impossible to not think about the stereotype whether it is intentional or not. Even if you are against stereotypes, you still recognize them. So in that case, it is a very effective tool in the industry to easily manipulate the understanding of a viewer. I do wish that we as a whole would change our views.

Maus

Maus was an interesting comic. I think it is very successful because of the content and the way Art Spiegelman approached it. The history of the content is true considering it covers Hitler and his terror over the Jews in Europe. He opens the comic with a quote from Hitler saying, “The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human”. The reader is likely to see the mice characters Spiegelman presents and not consider them real people until they get further along. The mice are representing the same humans that endured the horror for the Holocaust. Although it is a fairly long read, you get lost in the story as it streams along. Most of the panels, page by page, are laid out practically identically. The text remains consistent most of the way through. It’s incredible how Spiegelman can capture you with his characters as mice. Although they are not human, you can relate human qualities to them because of the things they go through.

Underground Comics

Underground comics in my opinion are some of the most interesting because of the content and lack of filter amongst the stories. I looked into a lot of Robert Crumb’s work and have seen a documentary about him and his work. I loved how meticulous he was with all of his drawings. You can tell that every piece was made with patience and handled with care. Crumb was a peculiar individual that many other people would consider totally bizarre but I find him quite humorous. It’s interesting when you see an artists work envelope deeper feelings or moral values. Crumb would illustrate a lot of his fetishes and I thought some of the moments were absolutely hilarious. It’s very easy for the average person to place judgment upon Crumb’s work but once you look deeper into it and understand the man he is, it is truly a beautiful experience to admire. If you think about being in his shoes, Crumb definitely had to experience a clash from the public but he stayed true to himself and his work.

Eisner & Thompson

Will Eisner was a master at what he did. His drawings incorporated a sense of sequential movement that gave it such life and also taking into account the emotional aspect of a character. Thompson’s holds similar values but with a much simpler look in terms of the style of the art. Although Thompson’s characters are simplified they contain a wide range of facial expressions so you get a really good sense of the feeling in the story. One thing I truly admire about Eisner is his ability to imagine his scene from any angle. He has the freedom to move the camera wherever he pleases for his shot. 

Comic Books

     In class I got to experience what a lot of Carl Bark's work was like while reading the comic books of Donald Duck and his nephews. I found the content to be quite different than the usual gag jokes in the way of seeing the creators implementing a sense of morals into the story. You can take something away from almost any one of those comics and it's like a mini life lesson.
     Growing up, I read a LOT of Calvin and Hobbes. I probably own about 10 to 15 different comic books. Again, the simplicity had me hooked with Bill Watterson's ink work and when I got a hold of the colored series I was in heaven. Calvin and Hobbes was great for my imagination, always pulling me with him into his adventures. Sure there was a load of immaturity that was hilarious but this series also had it's deep moments.
     I enjoyed the Donald Duck comic a lot but I'm not into it as much as other comics styles. I knew it was part of the Disney series and once you know that, you know that they strive for perfection and cleanliness with the work. Sure it is eye appealing to the typical person but I love the grittiness of Krazy Kat or the controlled chaos of Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. For some reason if it looks too perfect it kind of turns me off. If I really think about it, it is kind of like making sure EVERYTHING in the scene is perfect and clear so you know exactly what it is but I don't mind the abstractness of things and letting my own mind try to figure out what things are. To each his own though!

Comic Strips

     In class we took a look at the Peanuts comic strips along with Krazy Kat. I remember ever since I was a child growing up, anytime I saw a newspaper such as the Herald Tribune laying around, I would immediately flip to the comic section and the Peanuts comic strip was usually one of the first ones I would lay my eyes on. I didn't have any interest in the stressful problems that would be on headliners. I was just a kid, who had time to make the day even harder and worry about something totally out of your power?
     In both the Peanuts and Krazy Kat, I adored the simplicity. You know exactly which character is which with just a slightly different mark than the other. Every peanuts character had the same body type for the most part but their silhouettes would be totally different based on their clothes or hair shape. In Krazy Kat, we know the difference between the characters because it is a contrast of species. Krazy Kat is a genius comic strip with a nice balance. One of my favorite things about the artwork while reading it in class was by far the environment and background landscapes. They felt so fun and surreal and made the realm Krazy Kat existed in so believable. It's truly amazing how he took the concept of a character throwing a brick at another and twisted it in so many different ways. I look up to the artwork in both of these comic strips because I admire the fun simplicity anyone creates. I tend to over think my artwork all the time. People tell me the content in my sketchbook is gold compared to my final illustrations. I'm really struggling to find a happy middle ground in my own work.

Understanding Comics

     Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud was a very refreshing read for me. Comics have very useful lessons for every artists because they apply the same principals but under different circumstances. My favorite lesson is this information was the subject of the icon. Even letters of words are icons because they're merely abstract symbols that our brains put together to form words that give us specific meanings.
     The very idea that the words I am typing on this blog are understandable to someone else is a pretty cool milestone for humanity since the cave man days. Icons are the symbols we use for getting an idea across. As artists, many of us are looking to create things that the viewers can relate to. With their connection of relation comes the idea of understanding and deep down that is all we really want.
     I thought the section about taking the idea of a character and stretching him between being realistic or being super simplistic was very interesting. Why do cartoon characters appeal to us so much? I think it's like when you see a new animal. You know it is another living thing on this planet with you and you can relate to something that's trying to get by, just like you. Animators are breathing life into their characters, deceiving audiences by drawing thousands of frames that create the illusion of movement and rhythm. Scott McCloud wrote about how when you take away a lot of the detail of a unique person and it eventually just becomes a head shape with basic eyes, nose, and mouth; it just becomes so easy for us to connect with that creation.

Wordless Comics

     Comics without the use of text explaining the narrative such as Shaun Tan's The Arrival are successful due to their compositions, size, and pacing of the panels. His story has strong readability because of his staging and sequencing process. A lot of Shaun Tan's chapters start with a few key shots to show you the environment around. Once there is something that catches our attention with the character we are given close up shots that lead into a series of sequentials. With these sequentials, depending on the movements and actions we are able to tell what the character goes through. After explaining it enough with short and quick sequential frames he hits us with one big key-shot depicting a lot more information and to slow us down. We speed through the sequential frames as if we are doing the action itself and once we see the bigger picture we slow down to take in all the details he has left for us.

     Language is not always required to get a point across to an audience. If we look back in our human history, before language was even formed. Cave men grunted at each other but still had an understanding. This understanding comes purely from body language. They made their own paintings on rocks and caverns out of their experiences in the wild. Many of their depictions can be understood by looking at the gesture of their animals or humans. This is why gesture is so important and always will be. If the gesture of your character does not have the same movement and life as the object you are replicating from real life, you will find yourself struggling with a stiff character.

     People that have seen Shaun Tan's comic probably think it is pretty good for a black and white comic. A lot of people probably don't notice it but there is still a use of color. His color pallet is very simple, limited, and neutral; however, it gives a strong punch to the narrative in his uses of warm greys and cool greys. Temperature gives our characters warmth and life or can show how cold and dark something is.