Megg and Mogg by Simon Hanselman

Megg and Mogg by Simon Hanselman, ok where the fuck do I begin. This web-comic is out of control. No. This comic never had control to start. I have seen some pretty degrading things in my day but this glorifies them. I'm not saying I hate this web-comic, but I don't necessarily enjoy it. I don't mind crude humor, and sex jokes. The very first spread I saw was of Megg and Mogg just macking on each other. So, I thought immediately, this is going to be some weird shit. Mogg is a fucking cat. Of course that meant they were going to ball in some future strip. Which turns out to be in an Ikea of all places. Very early into reading this web-comic I realized that these characters aren't really a which, cat, werewolf, or owl. Instead I saw them as regular people. These are pretty scummy people, but people nonetheless. Once I started to look at them not as fantasy archetypes this web-comic got way more real. I definitely saw regular human behavior and mannerisms, although very terrible ways of living. These characters read to me as people that aren't ambitious. People who don't want to be someone important. Instead, they just want to get as high as they can, ball around, and repeat. I wish that these characters were completely fictitious, unfortunately, they aren't. I have met people like these characters. I don't particularly hate those people, and I understand there must have been some circumstances they had issues with that lead them down shady paths. Seeing these types of personalities in this comic reminded me that there are definitely limits to what I would consider regular behavior. These personalities are so involved in immediate pleasure and don't care about consequences. I may like to get drunk and ball, but there's a point where you have to wake up and make something of yourself. Or you can just let your life spiral out of control and you end up like Werewolf Jones high off some weird shit, bare balls naked playing Zelda and threatening to kill yourself.

HellBoy and Savage Dragon by Erik Larsen

 

These are the comics I wish someone had shown me when I was a young lad. They break all the conventions of regular super hero comics. These comics are, in my opinion, more outlandish when they're explained out loud. Still, while you're reading them they pretty much make perfect sense. They are like those weird dreams where your left shoe is actually two bananas taped together but you don't question it. Just like this story of Savage Dragon and Hellboy fighting each other because a giant ape with Hitler's brain is mind-controlling them both and making them fight against their will. Yeah, that all checks out just fine. That's what’s so awesome about it. I regret not getting into these titles sooner. I know when I was a kid I didn't like many new and different concepts. For example, I never liked ugly or misshaped characters. I thought that what characters looked like on the outside was all that mattered and if something didn't look good then it wasn't worth my time. Well, I wasn't a very smart kid. I learned over the years that the characters that aren't perfect are the most interesting. Hellboy is a demon that carries the key to annihilation of the human race as an arm. That would probably be considered the biggest of red flags for a hero character. Instead, Hellboy showed me that no matter where you come from, you can decide to be your own person. You aren't tied down to your roots just because you were born there. Now when I read these stories I don't mind at all that there's a monkey with Hitler's brain. It’s there for the plot and that's fine by me.

Diary of a Dominatrix by Molly Kiely

Diary of a Dominatrix by Molly Kiely was actually quite enjoyable. I didn't really know what to expect when I chose to read this selection for woman's comics. I felt like it would be more of a "how to" rather than an actual character telling me about her life. I found the comic was really well made, the illustrations are nothing crazy or out of this world but they really fit with the mood of the story. Which is a very relaxed and informal story. I didn't know anything about the dominatrix and slave lifestyle. I was very amazed that some people actually enjoy being mistreated with no real break in character. It seemed like these relationships focus on keeping the illusion of control consistent and being friendly or compassionate would destroy the fun. This just seems so unorthodox to me. I have always wanted to be treated nicely. But there are people out there that want the exact opposite, and they still find pleasure in it. I don't think that after reading this I will even consider that lifestyle. I’m not a man that wants anything shove up my butt Especially when they are carrots and other phallic veggies.

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli was a very refreshing work of art. There are far too many comics that stick to old conventional ways to design pages. I really enjoyed the sections where he would illustrate each character in their own style. (as pictured above) We can tell that the woman is much more open and free spirited. Represented by the overall loose use of lines and crosshatching. Where as the man on the right is stern and rigid in personality. We see that even his body is separated into sections and there are methodically straight lines everywhere with very little rendering clutter.  Mazzucchelli really has a way of capturing the characters' essence with each different style. The story itself was pretty interesting, but it wasn't something compelled me to keep reading. I read about half of the whole novel and I was interested in knowing what happened in the story, but there wasn't a need to finish it in one go. For me it is very hard for me to stop reading a good graphic novel and pick it up again later. There is this disconnect for me when I leave a story half finished.  I will probably go back and finish this novel but it's not my top priority.

Battle Angel Alita: Last Order by Yukito Kishiro

Dai Panic!!! Super Dynamic!! This manga is definitely full of energy. The main difference between western comics and manga, in my opinion, is how dynamic everything is in manga. I have read a lot of manga in my day, and some of them are really hard to keep up with. There is also this running theme to designing a manga. The panels only show what is necessary for the story to feel consistent. There are way more shots of a character with some lines radiating out to show some type of dramatic emotion or reaction. Nevertheless it works, because it adds to the reader's experience. Where in western comics a lot of action in portrayed almost statically.  In manga they break down a lot of shots but they all flow together in a sequence. Personally, I really enjoy manga. There just feels like there is so much more substance to the characters. Maybe it’s because of what Scott McCloud said in understanding cartoons. It is easier to connect with a more stylized character design. The majority of anime and manga have the same simplified approach to characters. I believe that's why younger audiences have such an affinity for anime and manga now.

RanXerox by Tanino Liberatore

RanXerox by Tanino Liberatore. Fuck me this novel was some messed up shit. Sorry for the language but that is just how this novel hit me. This thing was a none stop fever dream. I felt like I was over caffeinated while on a roller coaster, where everything was calm for about ten seconds and then what do you know Ranx just fucking smashed a dude’s face in after balling some floozy. Honestly the underground comics were tame compared to this. There were sections were I felt like the writer was fetishizing cruel human behavior. There’s one point were some lady is trying to ball Ranx and then she finds out he’s a robot so he fucking tapes her to a toilet and lets some dude pretty much rape her. She ends up liking it but just what the hell. If its one thing that completely ignites my rage is anything that has to do with rape. To an extent I figure that the writer was intentionally trying to make the reader feel uncomfortable. But there were very few calm moments in RanXerox. Even with the art style they chose to use. There are big bold black lines on everything. The colors are very vibrant but washed out almost, and the rendering of realistic anatomy was just jarring. I feel like this was a revisit to underground comics, but someone turned the volume up to 11 and broke the fucking nob off. If you want to make someone recoil at your story then I recommend doing it within the plot, and let the reader breath once in a while.

March Book One by John Lewis & Andew Aydin

 

March by John Lewis & Andrew Aydin was not my favorite read so far. This is not because of the actual story or the way its told. I just don't particularly like the style in which the artist rendered the panels. However I will acknowledge the design of the pages as a whole. The art style is just not for me. I completely love the design of most of the actual panel layouts, and the story is again something that must be told. Maus by Art Spiegelman is the other example, which I believe, needs to be taught to the masses multiple times. March does not portray as much of the incredibly violent scenes as Maus did. However the events that March covers are just as horrifying. There is a difference between knowing that there is racism in the world, and knowing exactly how it manifests. Anyone rational person can tell you that racism is out there but not many people can provide exact examples, and scenarios. March was much easier for me to read that Maus. Mainly because of the overall better design of the panels. Also, because the story was a bit easier to digest. Where Maus made me feel nauseous at some points March made me feel anger. The factor of passing the horrible treatment of events through a person's recounting makes it somehow easier to connect with the literature. Maus was very blunt in its delivery. These stories do remind me of how terrible masses could become. I absolutely hate when anyone is targeted because of something so nebulous as race. Race does not determine a person, or any group of people. Unless the entire race were clones of one really messed up person, but that is not possible. There are very few reads that can ignite my passionate hatred for terrible flaws in humanity and both of these novels hit the mark.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Maus by Art Spiegelman was an incredibly interesting read. The main thing that stuck with me the entire time was just how incredibly lucky the grandfather was during the holocaust. Right up until the end of the story there were incredible hardships that are unimaginable in today's society. The grandfather somehow by the grace of god managed not only to survive but he managed not to have a mental breakdown. I figured you had to be a very resourceful, and determined person to have survived. I think this book does an incredible job of reminding the readers of the travesties that occurred in the world's history. I think people must be reminded of how terrible things can become when someone evil has too much power. That peace is fleeting and if we don't do everything in our power to keep the peace or at least try to mitigate the hate we could very much return to such horrific events. I also really liked how Art chose to take the route of dehumanizing the people in the story so the message would be easier to digest and take in. There are some truly horrifying acts depicted. The art for me was a big overwhelming at times because the structure of the novel was so tightly compacted. There were too many words for some panels and everything practically had the same value of tone. Still I forced myself to read all of it in one day to keep everything fresh and experience the read fully. I would recommend this title to anyone. This is in my opinion a mandatory read in today's troubling times.

Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke"

Alan Moore’s “The Killing Joke”

Assessment 

Q. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

Seeing as the majority of the text in this comic is from The Joker’s point of view my reaction is a neutral understanding reaction. This seems as if it’s meant to be a backstory of sorts, even though it appears to be after a long time after The Joker and Batman meet. This story sheds a lot of light on the happenings that shaped The Joker as a character and humanizes him in a way. Before I saw him as a delusional man that was altered by chemicals and nothing more. Now after knowing that this Joker suffered an unbearable loss it makes me think of how regular people cope with great trauma. It makes me look past the simple “Prince of Crime” archetype that The Joker is so well known for and instead discovering his broken humanity.

Q. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

            As previously stated, I connected the most with the part of The Joker that became corrupted, or better stated the reasoning behind his delusions.  This story my as well be called “Joker with a side of Bats” because this story is clearly devoted to explaining The Joker’s madness. Everyone at some point in their lives loses someone that they hold dear; it might be a parent, a lover, or a close friend. It could even be your pet; the outcome is always the same, grief. I like how we are shown The Joker before the accident; it seems to me that he wasn’t well before the accident. He had an unbearable amount of stress by regular standards and when he reached his breaking point he snapped.  The chemicals in the water might have changed his appearance but I think that life took more out of him than any chemical bath could.

Q. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

            I personally think that this story doesn’t need any changes. It’s a classic story arc for a still relevant franchise. There are too many remakes now and something brought back into the limelight with a classic feel would definitely be welcome. However, now in today’s entertainment consuming society a lot of newer and more modern designs and tones would have to be applied. Nothing to crazy, maybe just a modern setting and some dark lighting I those extra loony parts. I would much rather prefer staying to the film noire style of the flashbacks when diving into The Joker’s past. The transitions used in this story, in my opinion, remind me of television or a short film. Something along the lines of  “Laundry Day” which features The Punisher on a regular day. It would be short and sweet, a small lean chunk of story with no fat. Less is more in my opinion.

The Tortoise and The Hare by Gary Hallgren

The Tortoise and The Hare by Glen Hallgren was a trip from start to finish. Alright for this week I read as many underground comics as I could while listening to the full playlist of songs that was given to us. I read a lot of underground comics in that playlist worth of minutes. This story however was the one that stuck with me the most. Simply because the actual tortoise and the hare story is a fable cartoon that most of my generation grew up with. This comic however is NOT that story, or better yet it's the story after the original story. It just paints the wholesome morally charged story with the deviousness of actual human living. There is sex, crazy trips, drugging, and deceit. Honestly I really enjoyed it probably more so because this comic wasn't just a smut comic like some of the other underground comics. I took this story as a behind the scenes look at athletes and their secret lives. As a kid you see these crazy fit athletes that run incredible races and win a bunch of medals. But as a kid you aren't aware of the backstage depravities. Now a days all adults know that when an athlete isn't running or whatever they're probably getting neck deep in drugs and plowing through more snatch than Denzel Washington; and that's why adults love athletes. So I feel like this special relationship of knowing the fable story and its message as a kid and then growing up and reading this underground version mirrors what growing up in society is like now. You idolize athletes or heroes or whatever and then when you get to be older and more experienced and you see your idols for who they really are. Or someone just got super blasted and decided to make these characters fuck slutty rabbits and smoke a lot of hash for fun. Either way I thoroughly laughed and enjoyed it. 

Also I love the old slang, I will now refer to sex as "balling" and drugs as "shazam".

Contract with GOD by Will Eisner

A Contract With GOD by Will Eisner was such a great read. The text did not overshadow any of the images; everything works seamlessly with one another. Truly a masterpiece and a great work in the graphic novel genre. Will Eisner's style of rendering and the use of text in the drawings are superb, they fuse with the drawing themselves and give the scene a more cohesive feel; which allows for a much more immersive experience. I want to say that one of the reasons why this is so easily read and immersive is because of the use of simplified characters. Scott McCloud explains this in his Understanding Comics book, even though I obviously wasn't around in the 30's Bronx town I was able to connect with the narrative through the characters and their storytelling. 
After the first "chapter" or story I began to realize that these stories were more or less a way of using real life events and turning them into fiction to teach people morals. I will admit I am not very good at deciphering messages out of text and it's quite hard for me to pick up on secret meanings to readings. The way I interpreted the graphic novel was such, the stories begin somewhat wholesome or at least they seem normal enough with no devious tones. Only after you're introduced to the characters and their situations does the story dive deeper into their background and reveals something not morally sound. For example in the first chapter we have was a man of faith who then challenges God because God "broke" their contract, he then falls from faith and only when its too late does he wants to repent. To me that read as a message of discipline, the man had a good life up until he challenged God and then afterwards he did have riches but he wasn't happy and only when his life was closing did he want to make a mends with God. But if he had stayed true to his contract with God it would have been different; I believe God was testing his faith and unfortunately the man broke. Mind you I'm not a very religious person and my relationship with faith is strange. I do believe there has to be something greater than humanity out there but I'm just not sure what has been shown to us is true divinity. I may be wrong but I still try to live my life with morals and discipline because I believe it’s what right. So the message I picked up from this novel is that every time something seemed immoral it was met with a just consequence. Which truth be told is a big factor on how I live my life. 
I honestly really enjoyed this work of art and it helped to remind me to stay disciplined and live a wholesome and humble life.

The Crypt of Terror - The maestro's hand

 

The Crypt of Terror- The Maestro's Hand I believe written by Russ Cochran and illustrated by Al Feldstein simply put is the reason why I never quite enjoyed older comic books. I stated this in my last post where I talked about Little Nemo, I do not like older comics because the drawings aren't to my liking. Unfortunately I don't have a strong love for older comics even on a nostalgic level. I always avoided these comic books because somewhere along the line of me starting to read comics I found a comic book from this era and it left a sour taste in my mouth. The sour taste came back after reading this comic book story. I understand that all comics are considered art and I whole heartily agree, but some art isn't suited for some people. I realize that all old comics aren't like these but first impressions are very important.
Let me briefly explain why I don't fancy these old titles. First off the art just doesn't appeal to me, I grew up in the 90's and I was used to the cartoonish looks of nickelodeon and cartoon network. I really loved cartoons and the only shows or characters I loved more than cartoons were superheroes. Yeah I loved everything about the hero archetype and the style of drawings in comics from the 90's to now; these styles feel like home for me. So when I first saw an older comic I immediately was put off by the old style of drawing, with accurate but static depictions of people. I know it’s not always about the drawing quality so I read that comic book anyway to see if the story would hold up. As you might of guessed already, I didn't love it. They story, which I can't remember today, was just bland and predictable. There were rarely any funny bits like in my cartoons and there weren’t overwhelming actions like the superhero books I read. I just feel uninterested when reading these old titles; I find them to be lackluster in their storytelling and their drawing styles.
Basically that is how I feel about that era of comic books, I don't know much history to know if it was because of the time that influenced these stories but they simply aren't for me.

Little Nemo by Winsor McCay

 

 

Little Nemo by Winsor McCay, where was this when I was growing up?!?! This is so good its ridiculous how long its taken me to find out about this comic strip. This is now my new standard for old time comics. To be honest when I saw the drawings for the first time I didn't know if I was going to like it because it seemed too old. I had a problem as a kid with looking at old comics; basically my young brain didn't like the old cartoons. I was gifted with great drawing abilities since I was a kid so when I saw drawings that weren't to my liking I simply did not bother with them. I always wanted the newer stuff, the edgy super black contrasting lines of Marvel and DC. Boy was I a dumb kid Little, Nemo is outstanding. 

Let me explain why I'm so taken with this comic strip. When I think of old time comic I think of old comic books, not comic strips I didn't know there were old time comic strips when I was younger. I thought the funnies in a newspaper must have been a recent thing because of the style of drawings; obviously I was dead wrong. Even after I saw that there were older comic strips I didn't really care for them because I associated them with old comic books, I simply didn't want to bother with the story if the drawings weren't to my liking. Now I wish I were exposed to Little Nemo back then, the quality of drawing in perfect for the short stories that Winsor McCay would deliver every Sunday. What I loved about reading this was how light hearted the stories were, how beautiful the drawings are, and what surprised me the most was the fact that there is a long spanning story between each week. I'm used to reading the modern comics in a newspaper and usually they don't have long stories, they are one off comics that fit into a narrative background but don't actually tell a continuous story. This is truly a masterpiece of works and I believe it should be read by everyone, young or old.

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud in my opinion, is a masterpiece that everyone everywhere should pick up. I have read very few writings that dive so deep into human psychology and explain it so clearly. The ideas that Scott McCloud discusses in his writing, and drawings, are ideas that I believe everyone has thought of at some point in time. At the very least anyone that has read comics has subconsciously been thinking the way McCloud explains. I found that to be astounding because its like a perception filter in Doctor Who, you never notice it there in plain sight until someone or something brings it to your attention and then you are able to see the object. That is how this book affected me; it hit me like a mind melting sci-fi plot twist. Obviously the fact that he himself made the book in a comic format and not a simply research type paper makes all the difference. The reader is going through the motions of reading another regular comic but as you read it the book is describing exactly how you are reading it and why you read it that way and its incredible to see how the human brain is such an individual thing but we all do these things so similarly.
The most interesting part for me is how we all can associate ourselves with the representation of a human face in a cartoon. It is only when we reach uncanny valley that we become disconnected from the character we are looking at and start to see the character and not ourselves. This was also a hard choice since this book has such great ideas, the way he describes how there are different levels of an artist was mind blowing. Simply because I feel as if I already had all the information in my brain just floating around and McCloud was able to piece all the background workings of the brain and put it in this book.

Max Ernst, A Week Of Kindness Or The Seven Deadly Elements

Here is my attempt at deciphering icons

Created by Max Ernst in

  A Week Of Kindness Or The Seven Deadly Elements

 Thursday

Element: Blackness

Example: The rooster’s Laughter

-There is a rooster on a sphere; there is a man at the bottom of a staircase and a woman up in arms next to a bowl of food?

-A rooster shows up again on the bottom right of the image with a giant winged creature standing over some I believe to be dead.

-Now we see the same winged creature standing over a woman in a coffin. I’m starting to think this is all about someone that had an accident when they feel down the stairs and this is the after math.

-The rooster and creature are dressed as men in some type of mausoleum, and there is a body that appears to be lifeless denoted by the skull at its feet.

-Yet again there is a rooster and a dead body, maybe the dapper rooster in men’s clothing represents a homicide detective? 

-Possibly the rooster or anything assimilated with the rooster icon means death. Everywhere there is a rooster there is some element of death, sometimes more obvious than others.

-They’re a lot of scenes depicted that might have correlations with Death expressions, such as death sneaking around the corner, and skeletons in the closet.

But, what do I know I just like drawing cool pictures and this is just my extremely rough personal interpretation.

The Arrival By Shaun Tan

 

The Arrival By Shaun Tan was totally radical; it’s a very bizarre experience and I loved it. There is an obvious theme and message to the narrative that most people will understand on their first read through; even though there is no reading. The Arrival is a story completely absent of words but has no issue telling a very intricate narrative. It tells a story with sequential images showing a progression of events in mostly chronological order, there are non-linear elements when the protagonist meets an old solider and a flashback sequence is shown.

  The story is about a man that leaves his family to travel to a new foreign land in hopes of a better life for his family. The Arrival uses many strange symbols and images to make the viewer feel disconnected from normal environments. It uses the images to portray the foreign world as something else other than anything on this earth. I believe it’s to give any viewer the same experience, regardless of their country’s customs. It paints alien scenes in hopes of making the viewer understand what its like to be an immigrant in a truly foreign land. Technically there are words and a language in The Arrival, but its not any known language in our current world. Even the protagonist resorts to using images of what he wants, and even then he is shown alternatives to his choices further broadening his horizons. 

I had a very eye opening experience when reading The Arrival because although I am an immigrant I wasn’t the one that had to take the leap from comfort for a brand new world. This story really made me understand what my father must have felt when he left our homeland to come to America. My father came to this country very much like the protagonist of The Arrival, just the clothes to his back and what he could carry in some luggage.  I can only imagine the amount of determination he needed to go out and try to find a job in a place where he understood nothing about their language or customs.