Week Eleven: Partner Work

Victor & Yasmina 

Optic Nerve

So, this comic was very similar in style to the video clip that we saw at the beginning of class - in the way that it is very simple and it is very analytical of life. It reminded me of the new Netfilx series, 'You', where there is a guy who's kind of like a 'loser' and works at a library - similar tot his where he works at a boring job. In a way it is similar because they are both invested in creeping, or even stalking this one girl that they think they can change. There is love and death involved, very extreme events. This graphic novel is in black and white, goes well with the story because it gives it a sort of nostalgic mystery in a way.

Asterios Polyp

This graphic novel is very different from the first one, in the sense of it being very analytical of self rather than analytical of outsiders/ others. In this graphic novel it is very simple yet it deals a lot with different compositions as well as shapes (geometric). There are colors evoked in this which are pastel like, a very simple color pallet which is a bit strange given that there are extreme events that happen in this. In the book there is a successful architect and he loses his job from a fire, and loses basically everything, he becomes homeless. He tries to ask for food, and then is offered a job if he learns how to fix a car, so instead of eating, he goes to the library and reads books and learns how to repair cars. It goes back and fourth in time of when he was at a successful point in his life to presently being in a state of survival. 

Warren Ellis: Transmetropolitain Vol 1

This graphic novel looks like it was made in the 70s or 80s, based on the classic style of that sort of comic 

at that time – a cyber punk comic. It looks similar to Sergio Toppi's panel design. This kind of gives me ideas of if Blade Runner met 

the movie 2012. It has a lot of sci-fi themes in it for sure, with futuristic cars and alien looking people, as well 

as real life scenarios and situations like people who are gay minding their own business, or bombers trying to 

harm a community. It is similar to Blade Runner's environment and the things that the main characters go through, 

but it reminded me of 2012's character who people think are going crazy, which is the radio broadcaster

who thinks that the world is going to end. It is a very colorful piece and reminds us of a kind of psychedelic

approach. It has very explicit scenes as well, actually all of these works are not meant for kids – because there 

is some pornography involved as well as a lot of death scenes that are vivid. There is a kind of superhere aesthetic

because it is made by DC Comics it has to have some kind of 'superhero' and 'villain' content – with the fighting 

scenes.

Why I Hate Saturn

This is a very interesting graphic novel, because it looks very different to the others based on it's paneling. 

It is basically in poster form and have no speech or word bubbles that are for each character. Instead the character's

communication is written in quotations under each of the panels. It takes place in a New York Diner, where there 

is a women who went through a breakup. Then the main character, who is the women that got her heart broken starts 

talking to a guy named Rick. They have conversations about men and women, comparing and contrasting them and then

sees that Rick is a funny and kind guy, but then he doesn't want anything intimate with her so she says – oh yeah

I've never slept with anyone I likes actually. The emotions that the author uses is kind of unique, the even then you skim 

through all of the panels the emotions change every frequently, much like people in real life – things are inconsistent, you

can't be happy for the whole time or sad, vice versa. The girl kid of expects too much and the guys in her life are very blah 

to her are are not exceeding or even reaching her expectations of what she would want as a stable setting.

The Years Have Pants by Eddie Campbell

This graphic novel is black and white, and is made with ink. The panels are very consistent and do not have much variation, 

it kind of goes back to the 1930s-40s it has maybe 4-6 panels per page, and is very consistent with the sizing of the panels on

each of the pages. It's a very strange novel, where it goes into the strange life of Alec, where he goes through the different years 

and how he deals with different women and people. How he progresses from beer to wine and goes through contemplations

in life. The author has an uncanny eye for the self-awareness and irony through the story and goes through his different oppertunities

and wisdom.