Underground comics.

At first when I went through the underground comics presented on our reading list, I didn't really find anything that appealed to me, which is actually what I want to talk about for this post.

Before taking this course my own perception of comics was that they are meant to be enjoyed. To be perfectly honest, the reason I never really looked into comics before is that when the word was mentioned, all I could think of was the stereotypical superhero comics; a genre that has never particularly appealed to me. And as a habit, if I pick up something I don't enjoy I tend to put it aside and not take a second glance. Something I in recent years have come to realise is a habit that significantly narrows my own mindset.

When I mentioned in class that I wasn't able to find any comic that appealed to me, our teacher made it clear that "These comics aren't meant to be appealing. They are meant to chock and make us question things." That was important for me to hear, because it allowed me to approach these comics differently.

As an example I want to talk about one of the comics I read, Robert Crumb's 'Mr. Natural'. A couple of the strips were fairly harmless and more sort of whimsical, but some of them where quite upsetting. Mr. Natural is by no means a likeable character and he exerts oppression and brutality on people around him and displays a general selfishness and inability to empathise with others. The strips that contained sexual content was particularly upsetting to me (though I want to make clear, not because the content is sexual, because after all that is something very natural, but because of the brutal nature with which it is presented). I was curious to the mindset behind the creation of the comic and did a bit of research. It seems that a lot of the things I found upsetting, was rather conceived as refreshing by a lot of the audience, which goes to show how different attitudes and perceptions can be.

One comic strip in this section, though not one showcasing Mr. Natural, is a breaking the 4th wall type comic. A somewhat overweight and scrubby man is walking down a street filled with attractive women. He starts talking about how in real life, none of these women would pay him any attention, but because this is a comic, the reality can change to his liking. With this attitude he walks up to a woman and asks her to give him a blow job right there on the street. She responds politely, saying that she would be happy to, but starts to protest. The man pays no heed to her protests, starts pulling his pants down and eagerly forces the woman's head to his crotch. After politely trying to evade his forcefulness the woman finally puts her foot down, explaining that this is a public magazine and that this sort of behavior is inappropriate within this venue. She then promptly walks off, leaving the man stunned and disappointed.

This kind of comic seems to be a clear uproar against the censure of mainstream publications. Though as I mentioned before, I believe in the importance of a variety of material, and that even heavy and upsetting topics is important to be exposed to. I do also however remain in the belief that some topics will be harder to digest if they're shoved in ones face, rather than presented in a timely manner. I also think it's good that there are different venues in which these subjects are handled, and that can be sought out or referred to when the want or need arises. Either way, holding a discussion is important.

If anyone reading this disagrees with any of my statements, or have insights they wish to bring to the table, I'll be interested in hearing your own thoughts in the comments.

Eisner and Thompson, God and blankets.

This weeks reading was by far the most emotional for me. The two graphic novels 'A contract with God' by Will Eisner, and 'Blankets' by Craig Thompson, both share similarities as well as distinct differences in way of storytelling. In both novels there is the backdrop of God being a part life and of the people involved, wether it's directly or indirectly, yet the main focus is that of the character's humanity and experiences trying to get through life.

A contract with God.

Blankets.

Will Eisner's novel is very raw and unflattering. It follows the events of a number of characters with no apparent relationship to each other, as they struggle to get through life while facing all kinds of hardships. It deals with subjects like rape, alienation, poverty, death, alcoholism and abuse to name a few. Admittedly, this novel was very emotionally challenging for me to read, and at times I had to put it away because it was hard to bring myself to read any further. That said, these are important subjects to deal with, and even more important for people with little or no experience of these matters to be exposed to. The graphic novel seems to be a good platform to do so, as one can get an even more personal impression of the subjects at hand.

When reading a traditional novel, the language and descriptions can be incredibly colourful if written well. Even so, what we as readers are able to picture in our minds will be limited to things we have already seen. With the graphic novel, the author/artist can further describe the emotional state of the subject matter using, not only visual clues that would be lost in writing, but even the energy of the brush strokes has it's own effects - if it's harsh, edgy and scribbly versus if it has a soft, flowing line and ornate elements. Writing can produce this effect very effectively as well, but I find that imagery offers an additional dimension to the storytelling.

As for Thompson's 'Blankets', I find that he utilizes this even more effectively than Eisner. Not only does his line quality change pretty drastically depending on the mood of the scene, but the text becomes part of the images, cutting across them or flowing through them, falling with the snow, spreading out into the branches or wrapping around the characters like a comforting blanket. Thompson's imagery also flows seamlessly between reality and a sort of dreamlike state based on how the main character perceive his experiences. This has an effect that is at the same time poetic and easy to relate to.

Both of these novels are beautiful accomplishments in their own rights, yet there are so many more approaches out there that I look forward to discover as I delve deeper into the subject of comic.

Conventions of the comic book

Taking this class has been particularly interesting to me as I've been able explore this genre that I've taken for granted most of my life, and get to know the history behind it. There are sub-genres within the comic industry that I haven't reflected over or in some cases even knew they existed; sub-genres that each have a complex history of their own, with a more or less of an uphill battle to break through.

As a child, the comics that were most prominent and that you could find in just about every store and magazine stand was 'The adventures of Donald Duck', 'Bamse, the strongest bear on earth' (A Swedish comic that I absolutely adore to this day), and the Belgian comic 'TinTin'. My brother had a monthly subscription of the Donald Duck comic books and I remember that they took up most of the space in his bookshelf. I didn't read much of them myself (I resorted to watching the animated series on TV), but I remember that they had a small slice of an image on each spine that, when put together created a continuing scene. It intrigued me to see the image take form, but to my great dismay the comic books never arrived in order, and by the time my brother ended the subscription, there were still large middle sections missing.

In contrast these childhood impressions of the comic industry, this weeks reading and class discussion exposed me to the journey and conventions of the comic book as an art form. When I was younger it never occurred to me that comics could be made even for grown ups. Not that I didn't think grownups could enjoy them, it simply never occurred to me to even reflect upon it. Now with more exposure, I have come across a number of comics and genres that deals with heavier subjects that are important to address in our day and age, but that I would be very hesitant to propose to children. Though that's something I will go more in depth with in coming posts, especially the underground comics.

Even so, I read some Carl Barks stories for this week that are specifically advertised towards children, and they too have a lot of grown up jokes that I wouldn't have understood as a kid. Thinking about it, it makes sense. Most of what is written for children is inevitably written by adults. It would be strange if none of the things that they enjoy would sneak their way into their own creations, no matter the intended audience. And even more true is that, thinking back on when I was a child, a lot of the things I enjoyed then, I still enjoy to this day. The only thing that's really changed is the insight with which I can perceive them.