Spiney's Comics

I read This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jilian Tamaki. This coming of age story revolves around two girls who meet up during the summer in a small beach town. This comic stands out because of its attention to nuance and its ability to capture the mundane. We are shone the everyday lives of two girls figuring things out. They talk about feelings, love, curiosities... The tone is slow-paced and peaceful. We also see the parallels between the complicated adult life and the teenager's lives that have their own fair share of drama. Although the story had a lot of heart to it, I personally did not find it to be very relatable to me, because when I was their age, I did not think about much and just played outside all day. I did not go through such tumultuous times and self realization to the extent they did. I enjoy the story now because I understand the struggles, however I do see this comic as having a more mature audience.

I read Osamu Tezuka's manga's Astroboy and Dororo. Astroboy is a series that I grew up with. It follows the story of an android who is created by Dr. Tenma to replace his dead son. I think this piece resonates with a national and worldwide audience especially following the end of WW2, because of its themes of anti-war and industrialization. It is a story of hope and humanness. Atom boy also marks the beginning of Japan's fascination with robots and mecha. Dororo shares a similar theme of recollecting one's human qualities. The story takes place during the Sengoku period, it is about a boy who was born without any features or organs because his father essentially sold his soul in exchange for power to rule the land. He faces discrimination and hardship, but with each triumph over a demon, he gains a bit of humanity back.

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read? Batman the Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland is a comic book that takes the Batman story and tells it from the Joker's perspective. It was mature, at the same time the colors and panels were exciting and colorful. The tone of it was that of satire and drama instead of the usual high action we are used to seeing in superhero comics. It explores the Joker's backstory as well as takes a closer look at his codependent relationship with Batman. 2. What connections did you make with the work you just read? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect. In this comic, I was able to relate to the Joker more than I could relate to Batman or the other characters. The story introduces some sympathetic elements such as how he was jobless, with a wife who was pregnant, and no one laughed at his jokes. Although he was a psychopathic murderer, and I do not agree with his actions, the motives behind his ...

This week I read, My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris and  Asterios Polyp  by David Mazzucchelli.  My Favorite thing is Monsters takes the form of a girl's drawings in her journal. They are very detailed and rendered in ballpoint pen. The comic does not really follow the comic book format. There are long paragraphs of narration, while the detailed visuals give us insight into her mind. She caricatures herself as a little monster as well. The organization of the comic is like a scrapbook, which makes it feel like a stream of consciousness, organic flow of doodles. On one hand this makes the comic feel personal, like we are looking into her mind, on the other hand, the story is hard to follow and the main character feels like an unreliable narrator. As her narratives are riddled with fantastical creatures, and the story is only told from her perspective.  Asterios Polyp had a very graphic and simplistic style that added to the appeal of the comic. Mazzuc...

For this week, I read  Persepolis by  Marjane Satrapi The story is set in 1980, Iran. She writes about growing up during a time of religious turmoil and social reform. She grew up thinking she was the next prophet, here to rescue humanity. She desired fairness and justice. On one hand she is very religious, on the other hand her parents are progressive and actively participated in the protests. She becomes close to her Uncle as he teacher her a lot about the world. However, he was believed to by a spy by the Iranian government and was executed. This affects Marjane a lot as a child. She goes through hardships and is separated from her loved ones. The story does well to capture the life of a child growing up in social unrest. It captures the conflict she feels because she wants the best for her country but and the same time disagrees with how her people are being negatively affected. The style it is drawn in is simplistic and graphic, in almost a child-like manner. It only has ...

This week, I read March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. It is a memoir of the congressman John Lewis as he recounts his upbringing up until the day of inauguration of President Obama. John had a strict upbringing. And it was clear that he was an oddball unlike the rest of his family. He valued education and even went against his father's demands to go to school instead of staying at home to help with the farm. He also was a preacher. He preached to his chickens ever since he was young, and held funerals for them when they died. He becomes one of the youngest preachers and goes to meet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He participates in the lunch counter non-violent sit ins to desegregate America. And after much tension, on May 10, 1960 six Nashville restaurants served food to black people. This was a great triumph for desegregation. His story proves how difficult freedom can be, and how resistant people can be to change when they hold themselves superior to others. Racism i...

Maus is a graphic novel by Art Speigelman. It depicts his father's experiences during the Holocaust as a Jew. The story is written in an interview style, where it interlaces the dialogues with his father in the present and his father's accounts of the war. This type of writing gives the narrative a second layer. When the story gets too dark, we get a moment of relief from the bleakness and get an insight on the characters peaceful lives now completely different from the horrors of the holocaust. It also suspends us mid action and makes us want to know what happens next. Although moments like this become less as less frequent as the story goes on, it becomes more of a continuous narrative with his father as the main character. Maus gives us a new lens to understand the Holocaust through the medium of the graphic novel, using unique visuals and storytelling techniques. The interesting element of Maus is how it uses animals in the place of human characters as a metaphor. He port...