Week 13: Reconsidering the Superhero

-
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 is a typical Batman comic. Even though its mainly about Batman, I still enjoyed reading it.

 Besides the story and themes of both comics being different, the illustrations were drastically different. Batman The Killing Joke was detailed and had variety of color being used and had a dark feel to it. However, The Dark Knight Returns had a very unique style. There was an overall sketchbook like feeling, with layering, rough textures, a variety of shapes and a subdued color palette with a painterly illustration style. Although this style seems to be similar amongst other Batman comics, I enjoyed the look and feel of the Batman The Killing Joke comic more. While both being Batman comics, each one has a unique style to them which adds to their stories in a different way.  

 I enjoyed reading both of these comics since I have seen the adapted movies for the Joker and The Dark Knight. It was interesting to read a different version of the story and compare it to the movies and experience them in a new setting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 5 - Body talk: Eisner and Thompson

-
Image
Habibi  is a graphic novel by Craig Thompson. It is about two runaway child slaves, Dodola and Zam, and the dangers and adventures they have to face in a fictional Islamic country. Thompson tries to present themes of environmentalism, anti-Islamophobia, racism, rape, and slavery through the use of visual and thematic cues from both the Qur'an and the Bible. The illustrations brings a lot of emotion as they try to portray designs and patterns of the Islamic culture. While reading there was something that made me a bit sad. The fact that the girl is only nine-years old and is sold into marrying a much older man and he rapes her, was quite sad to me. This affected me because, like the Islamic country in the story, there are a lot of child marriages in India. This isn't common now but while reading the story, it made me think about being in that position and how it would feel. My great grandparents and grandparents had a child marriage but luckily it wasn't like
Read more

Week 2 - Understanding Comics

-
Image
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud had many interesting concepts throughout. It talks about the history behind comics and discusses the many techniques artists explore in order to get their message across in the comic yet still be relatable to the readers. An idea that stuck out to me was, "Our identities belong permanently to the conceptual world. They can't be seen, heard, smelled, touched or tasted. They're merely ideas. And everything else - at the start - belongs to the sensual world, the world outside of us" (McCloud 40). He says that things we have experienced in life can be separated into these two worlds or realms. There's the realm of the concept and the realm of the senses. This idea of these two worlds was interesting as they change the feel and concept of the comic. On one hand, there is the physical world. For the physical world, an artist would use realism as it helps portray the beauty and complexity of the world. On the other hand, there
Read more

Week 6 - Underground Comics

-
Image
Most underground comics are intended to be offensive and push the borders of taste and propriety. These comics may include nudity, sex, violence, racism, sexism and pretty much anything considered to be offensive.  For this week, I read Robert Crumb's  Mr. Natural #1  as well as  Whiteman . While reading  Mr. Natural ,  I found myself looking at the images more as it was hard to follow a bit.  Mr. Natural  was interesting to read and was less disturbing to me than  Whiteman  was.  Whiteman  had some sexual and disturbing scenes especially since it was about a human and a creature that I believe was Bigfoot. The images and the actual text made me very uncomfortable that I couldn't even finish reading that section. I had to skip that part and read ahead and I honestly feel like that scene wasn't necessary. It was the only sexual part of the comic and I feel as though it didn't even need to be added.  After reading underground comics, I realiz
Read more