Literature of Comics and the Graphic Narrative Course

Stereotypes and Ethics – Notes Stereotypes and Cliche´:   Both terms from printing that refer to techniques that facilitate the speed and lower the cost of production through the use of pre-set images or phrases.  Will Eisner "In comics, stereotypes are drawn from commonly accepted physical characteristics associated with an occupation." "Certain human characteristics are recognizable by physical appearance in each of the above, the reader evokes a message out of the stereotypical image in this where he shows Hitler youth as well as a bad guy having a back problem." Jim Crow Christy Minstrels Stereotypes:  Are not a metonymies (figures of speech, ex: i have a new set of wheels (i have a new car)) like most caricatures but are representation of idealized and character types that are not based on observation, but on previous representations.  Jim Crow in Dumbo 1941 Robert Crumb Matin Luther King by Ho Che Anderson None ...

Underground Comics - Gay Comics I actually didn't know that underground comics were a thing – man I mean it took time and effort to make comics. So I couldn't imagine just making comics for the hell of it. I didn't know that in the 1980s they would especially make comics about explicit stuff. I knew that they would probably have sexual innuendos or sexual symbolism but not tho this extent. They would show teens and what they probably went through in school and had crushes on people. It was like some of the shows today except that even today they aren't as explicit as they are in these comics that were made over 30 years ago.  It was also in black and white which I thought it would probably be in color – considering that their flag is the rainbow one. However, it was probably too expensive to print the comics in color. But it was also cool because the styles were different inside and they didn't just tackle the stories and topics about gays but they showed l...

Maus - Art Spiegelman Firstly, just the cover of the comic made me think of Nazis and World War II. I wouldn't expect that with just thinking about a mouse, but the book is titled 'Maus' not mouse. In the beginning he quoted Adolf Hitler, "The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human". So incidentally the creator made his characters animals that are small, and morphed them with human like characteristics, in a way so you could tell it was like they were being alienated or dehumanized. He showed some very explicit things very subtly and the characters didn't even have expressions on their faces, but you could tell the morbid truth of what they were going through. Spieglman created 'Maus' in a way to depict his conversations with his father, going from present to the time when it was crucial in WWII. It showed the times going into WWII and the experiences of two Polish Jews, Vladek as well as his wife Anja were killed by Nazis. You could ...

Mickey Mouse Dailies 1942 Vol. 13 I read through some of Mickey Mouse Dailies which were in black and white. I loved how in every frame there was not a moment when it was boring or the characters looked static. There was action, and you could tell that something intense was happening – especially with Pete. In a way it felt like Mickey and Mini were detectives, or Indiana Jones or something. They always seemed to be the ones who people went to about their troubles. I also found it interesting that since it was a thing at that time, there was a lot more smoking involved – and some sexual innuendos or like sexualized imagery that I wouldn't expect from a Disney comic. Like there was a woman who was super curvy and her cleavage was shown. Also, when she was looking for something, Goofy was looking at her behind. Another thing is when they were going after this bad guy with a wrapped head, Goofy had a gun to him – which is very inappropriate considering the context of who the charac...

The Arabian Nights - Sergio Toppi So I read, or at least tried to read Sergio Toppi's comics 'Arabian Nights'. I couldn't read it exactly because it was in Italian – but I actually liked it because of the composition of the pieces. I was actually introduced to Sergio Toppi's work when I was studying abroad in Florence, I also learned about another comic artist  Moebius-Jean Giraud. I also saw Lorenzo Mattotti's work that were like comic scenes with no text within the illustrations.   But I actually really enjoyed his imagery. He made each of his pages very dynamic. Sometimes he would section each of the scenes by boxes, the classical way – but other times he would divide it in a very cool compositional way with the artwork which went from one scene to the next in one full image. He also used very limited colors like blues and greens or purples and reds. It was a watercolor kind of quality with his amazing line quality of work. The attention to detail was exqu...

Carl Barks Donald Duck and Hergé Tin Tin Comics I really enjoyed reading the Carl Barks Donald Duck and Hergé Tin Tin Comics. I actually used to read Tin Tin when I was younger because my dad was a huge fan. I even remember reading it in French when I was studying French in school. My dad used to read it to me in French because that was his second language since he grew up in Switzerland and grew up with the comics. I liked both comics, Tin Tin a bit more, but both in general because they were always about adventure. I love to travel and what I loved about these strips were that it was about ordinary kids it seemed and it would be them beating the bad guy or finding treasure – it would be something amazing. But, it used to give me hope as a kid and they used to make me excited in a way. Then later on I used to watch Duck Tales on Disney which was really similar to how Carl Barks made his comic strips except that it was in animation form and started to modernize. 

Little Nemo, Peanuts, and the Comic Strip I thought that the Sunday comics were a huge stepping stone when it came to comics. I remember my grandpa used to tell me about the Sunday comics when he'd get them in the newspaper. There was always a new addition to the story, so whenever the next Sunday came it was always anticipation for the reader like it was a new episode that aired.  I remember learning about Little Nemo by Winsor McCay when I was taking the history of illustration class. It was a really cool comic that was so surreal and could go in so many directions although it was such a simple subject matter. But, I loved it because it was actually so relatable; I also loved the fact that this comic was actually a huge printed book. I loved reading it because I actually had dreams as vivid as little Nemo's dreams in Slumberland. I mean, I didn't have a particular goal like Nemo did, to reach the Princess. It reminded me of Mario, how he tries to get Princess Pea...