Week 3: The Comic Strip

The comic strip back in its hay day had entertained millions of newspaper readers. For most it was the only source of amusement to be had on a Sunday. One of the earliest comic strips was Little Nemo by Winsor McCay. At this point in time, the artist was able to use a full page of newspaper to create a scene. But as the comic strip evolves, it slims down to a simple horizontal panel comic where the success of Charles Schulz Peanuts begins to shine.

I enjoyed seeing the progression of Peanuts and how the writer slowly adds more characters into the suburban world of Charlie brown. It's fun to see the comic morph into how its represented today. Starting with 3 kids and dog and moving to more and more characters as the years went by. A lot of jokes use Charlie Brown as the end of the joke and none of the jokes are laugh out loud funny, but they are still genuinely amusing. Sure like with most comics of the time the characters of Peanuts are predominantly white and lack diversity, but it doesn't really harm the content and just shows the history of representation in media of the time. Comparing this with Archie it doesn't seem as if the comic is teaching children how to be kids in a white suburban area, but its more about the feelings of the characters and is more realistic than the teenage fantasies of Archie. I feel like the some of the content would go over most of children's heads and would be better understood by an older demographic. I suspect the demographic of the Peanuts comic was adults recounting on their childhood years as they read the wittiness of Schulz. Peanuts definitely stands the test of time and can be enjoyed and completely understood in this day and age.

Week Two: Understanding Comics

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud was a very compelling read. While I enjoyed the content that was offered some concepts were still confusing. But what I enjoyed most about the information was how it was delivered.

Scott McCloud puts a little bit of extra elbow grease while discussing the subject of comics by executing the information quite creatively in a comic format. Portraying it in this way was a lot more engaging, and elements were easier to grasp then if it was a standard text book format. What struck me most of all was when concepts were still being portrayed even when the writing itself moved to a different topic.

 
The concept of simplifying the face is still portrayed even when Scott has moved to a different topic on the next page. Doing this simple visual helps me understand and register the previous concept better than just going over it once. It reinforces the material and allows it to be viewed in its intended natural setting.

Another topic McCloud brought up were the steps that allow any project or comic to take form. This part reminded me when I was 12 and first taking an interest in storytelling and animation. I had first thought that artwork and surface was the most important part of storytelling, so then on, I started pursuing illustration and payed little attention to the ideas and story. I appreciated McCloud putting this aspect of my life into words and helping me rethink and find new perspective on what makes a comic not only work but also be good.

 

Week One: The Arrival

The Arrival demonstrates how to portray readable story telling without the use the of physical words that traditional comics are known for. Though there are no words, there is a delicate story being written from panel to panel.

The Arrival uses common stereotypes which most of the audience can recognize and interpret the general message the writer is leading the reader towards.  The story doesn't necessarily use character or racial stereotypes such as, "this character is smart because they're wearing glasses," but it uses more generic stereotypes like a nuclear family model and using universally understood facial expressions, hand gestures and symbols. The artist helps guide what the reader should be interpreting by using different tones of color and different panel borders to tell the reader there is a flash back happening or whether the situation is serious or light hearted.

Border changes 

 

Changes in color

Universal symbols and facial expressions

While reading, I found myself having to look at panels multiple time before understanding the situation. It was if my brain was figuring out pieces of a puzzle thinking, "oh he is looking for work" and "oh he is trying to buy groceries," while I was reading. When reading comics, I tend to rely heavily on the dialogue and words to guide me through the story only taking a brief moment to look at the artwork. I know some friends who speed through the comics and hardly take time to enjoy the visuals. So it is fun mind puzzle to read a wordless comic such as The Arrival where the visuals have to be well executed and planed out for the story to be told.

The writer picks a concept that is easy to identify with; the feeling of being somewhere unknown and new. I myself have dealt with this every time I've transferred schools or traveled somewhere new. Though the situations are not of the same gravity compared to the main character in The Arrival, where he moves to what seems like a completely new world with a culture, animals, and language unlike what is normal for earth, the core concept of the unknown is still there to relate to making it a fun, engaging read.