Lit. of Comics & The Graphic Narrative

This week I read  The Dark Knight Returns Tenth Anniversary Edition  by Frank Miller and  Batman The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. Superhero comics have been around for a while and each one has been adapted into a TV series or movie while still trying to embrace the traditional conceits and motifs of the comic book. I chose these two comics to read as there are a variety of Batman comics and each one has a different and unique story.  Batman The Killing Joke was interesting to me as most of the story was actually about Joker's life. It was different reading a story that wasn't all about Batman. It actually gave a new perspective of the Joker and why he is the way he is. It also shows how Joker and Batman aren't that different but are portrayed differently based on what life has thrown at them and the choices they decided to make as a result. On the other hand,  The Dark Knight Returns i s a typical Batman comic. Even though its mainly about Batman, I still enjoyed reading

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read? I thought it was interesting seeing the Joker's life before he became the Joker. I think it gave the story a bit of perspective as it ultimately explains who the Joker is and how he became like this. I also was a bit shocked at how dark the narrative was as I did not expect it.  2. What connections did you make with the story that you read? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect Most of the story was about the Joker's life and his backstory.  The story shows how tragedies can change a person's life in different ways. Both the Joker and Batman have experienced some sort of  life-altering tragedies, which has eventually lead them to their present lives. Joker taunts Batman about how one bad day can change a person's life and their outlook on life which can lead them to insanity. In some way, Batman is as insane as the Joker but they just perceive the world differently which shows how

Fun Home  by Alison Bechdel, is a graphic novel/memoir about her life growing up. It focuses on her relationship with her father and explores many themes throughout the book such as sexual orientation, gender roles, suicide, emotional abuse and dysfunctional family life.  While the overall themes of the story was a bit dark and sad, Bechdel was able to tell and re-tell the same story but add new information along the way. She did this through her illustrations and text. The illustrations are drawn in black line art with a gray-blue ink wash. She combines intricacy and detail with seriousness and complexity through her line work and color choices. The way the illustrations are drawn, simple yet distinctly, really capture the themes. Also, the attention to detail that is shown in the backgrounds with the gray-blue ink wash, helps understand the emotions she is trying to portray. We get a sense of gloomy and almost depressing emotions. It feels like the character's emotions subdued

Asterios Polyp  by David Mazzucchelli is a graphic novel is about a professor and architect who lives in New York. The novel follows his life with scenes from his past and childhood. The mix of past and present and showing Asterios’ life and personality, ultimately portrays how a person becomes who and what they are. The portrayal of who Asterios is and how he became like this is shown through the illustration style. Each character has thick and thin lines and seem detailed but not too detailed. An interesting aspect of this graphic novel is that the illustrations are not in black and white like how most graphic novels have been. I think the use of mainly purples, blues, pinks and sometimes yellows, makes this story unique and stand out compared to other graphic novels. I also think that the use of these colors adds emotions to the story differently. It makes it seem soft yet gloomy. Another thing I noticed is that each character has a distinct text bubble. It is intere

Buddha  v.1 by Osama Tezuka is a unique interpretation of the life of Buddha and how Buddhism came about. The first impressions I got from this manga were that the story was interesting. As someone who is Indian, I have learned a lot about Buddhism while growing up. Even after learning about it multiple times, I still chose to read this manga as the style of the comic made the story very interesting. I have never read any manga before so this was my first time experiencing it and I really enjoyed it.   The story was incredibly easy to read especially because of the illustrations. Tezuka sets the story up in the very beginning just from his landscapes and black and white imagery. The contrast of the humans being drawn really cartoony with the backgrounds and animals being very detailed, brings a lot of depth to the story while also being comical. The characters really bring the story to life. Also, the format of the comic made it more enjoyable to read.  Overall, I really enjoyed re

This week I read the graphic autobiography,  Persepolis  by Marjane Satrapi. The story depicts Satrapi's childhood and growing up in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. The story helps remind readers of the “precarity of survival” in political and social situations.  The black and white format Satrapi uses to create the story is very powerful. There is a lot of dimension to the story as the text is very light and airy while the illustrations are very heavy and bold. This is similar to the graphic novel Maus, as Spiegelman uses a similar technique. In both instances, the story is very serious and has a dark tone, but the authors try to find a way to add a bit of light-heartedness while still not taking away from the main subject of the novels. Also, both Satrapi and Spiegelman use very bold and expressive black lines with no color added. This really emphasizes the story more but also creates a sense of hopelessness from the characters just from the use of line thickness