The Underground Comics were... interesting, to say the least. I read a bunch of them, but I thoroughly studied the Air Pirates comic.
One thing that I found interesting in many of these issues of Underground Comics was the variety. A lot of the issues compile comics of many different artists; some are very visually unappealing, and others, are really pretty to look at. Some of the really horribly-drawn comics made me wonder if some of the artists behind these comics were rejected comic artists, who sellout to making Underground Comics. The Zap Comicx are a good example of not only this artistic variety, but also content variety. The issue of Zap that I read had some stupid comics with the occasional raunchy humor, but it also contained extremely explicit content that depicted intense acts of violence and graphic sexual material, as well as political commentary. The political commentary was presented in a way that I would expect. The strip in the issue of Zap that I saw showed depictions of society around the world compared to the "perfect" America, so you get the racist stereotypes, or whatever. It didn't really phase me.
The graphic material in some of these Underground Comics was actually kind of...funny to me? I'm one of the weird types who enjoys really dark humor, and I don't get offended by anything, really. Especially in Air Pirates, I thought the content was genuinely humorous. I normally don't find explicit sexual content to be appealing, but the comics that deliberately parodied the Disney characters were taken to such extreme levels, that it ended up being funny to me. Yes, the content was very edgy, but it was pushed to such a high level of absurdity, that I found it amusing, to an extent. It was something that I would have expected from one of the older, more explicit (and better) episodes of South Park. Anyone could make a stupid pornographic comic, but it becomes creative when it involves sex with an anthropomorphic caterpillar woman with fifty vaginas. Stuff like this is so stupid and bad, that it ends up being funny, which I am guilty of thinking.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Week 5
This week, I studied Will Eisner's Life on Another Planet.
What really struck me about this graphic novel was the style. The drawing quality strays away from the typical realistic comic style, and goes into a more exaggerated and expressive style. Eisner portrays the characters as caricatures, and focuses more on emphasizing their movement rather than having them stand stiffly while looking pretty (like a lot of characters in the action comics looked). The characters express emotion by using their entire body, which gives the drawings a very organic and convincing feel that pushes the drama levels extremely high.
For instance, toward the beginning of Life on Another Planet, the two main characters are caught eavesdropping by an antagonist, and they end up bashing his head with a rock. The movement in these sequential drawings are so clear and convincing, that it's difficult to not feel queasy after seeing it.
Also, this brings me to mentioning that the way that the characters are illustrated interacting together is so beautiful. There is sort of a cohesive motion to the characters in each drawing, and they way that Eisner illustrates this motion brings out the feeling in how the characters interact with each other. I think that seeing the relationship between two characters makes a drawing so much more interesting to look at since there's some sort of dynamic to be seen, and since his drawings are composed so heavily of character emotion and interaction, they're so much more interesting.
Something else I've noticed is that Will Eisner utilizes the space on each of the pages. He doesn't limit the drawings to single panels, but instead, takes advantage of any space given on the paper. More often than not, the drawings fall out of panels and almost flow into each other, and it's a beautiful thing to look at. It's as if each page is its own composition, holding an important, individual part to the story. This inconsistency of panel illustration also makes the graphic novel more engaging, since the actual layout of drawings on each page gives the reader's eyes a fresh sight every time.
What really struck me about this graphic novel was the style. The drawing quality strays away from the typical realistic comic style, and goes into a more exaggerated and expressive style. Eisner portrays the characters as caricatures, and focuses more on emphasizing their movement rather than having them stand stiffly while looking pretty (like a lot of characters in the action comics looked). The characters express emotion by using their entire body, which gives the drawings a very organic and convincing feel that pushes the drama levels extremely high.
For instance, toward the beginning of Life on Another Planet, the two main characters are caught eavesdropping by an antagonist, and they end up bashing his head with a rock. The movement in these sequential drawings are so clear and convincing, that it's difficult to not feel queasy after seeing it.
Also, this brings me to mentioning that the way that the characters are illustrated interacting together is so beautiful. There is sort of a cohesive motion to the characters in each drawing, and they way that Eisner illustrates this motion brings out the feeling in how the characters interact with each other. I think that seeing the relationship between two characters makes a drawing so much more interesting to look at since there's some sort of dynamic to be seen, and since his drawings are composed so heavily of character emotion and interaction, they're so much more interesting.
Something else I've noticed is that Will Eisner utilizes the space on each of the pages. He doesn't limit the drawings to single panels, but instead, takes advantage of any space given on the paper. More often than not, the drawings fall out of panels and almost flow into each other, and it's a beautiful thing to look at. It's as if each page is its own composition, holding an important, individual part to the story. This inconsistency of panel illustration also makes the graphic novel more engaging, since the actual layout of drawings on each page gives the reader's eyes a fresh sight every time.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Week 4
I looked into action comics quite a bit for this segment, so I'm going to be talking about those!
I'm not sure whether or not it was the writers' intention, but I found the comics to be kind of funny; especially the Superman and Marvel comics. Comparing the Superman comics to the Marvel ones, the Superman ones, for the most part, are more text-driven, whereas the Marvel comics have a lot of panels per page to support its text. What I find comical about the way these issues are written is the dialogue. Almost every text bubble ends in an exclamation mark, and in my head, I always read all the dialogue as ridiculously over-enthused. It's like the kind of silly narration you would typically get from a Fairly Oddparents episode that's centered around the Crimson Chin. This is just a funny trope, and seeing the source material gives me a new appreciation for it!
Another similarity between these two action comic books is that they're not just one story. Both issues have a main story, which is showcased on the cover, but also include other short stories, ranging from cowboys to hunting animals in the jungle. The superhero-themed story on the cover is continued in later issues, and those later issues will contain other shorts as well.
Also, I'm just going to say that the action in these comics are very over-played and almost cliche, specially in the Superman comic books, but I guess that's just another feature that makes them entertaining to read. The level of absurdity is definitely an interest-holder (seriously, Superman? "Balloon beasts?" That's ridiculous!)
I'm not sure whether or not it was the writers' intention, but I found the comics to be kind of funny; especially the Superman and Marvel comics. Comparing the Superman comics to the Marvel ones, the Superman ones, for the most part, are more text-driven, whereas the Marvel comics have a lot of panels per page to support its text. What I find comical about the way these issues are written is the dialogue. Almost every text bubble ends in an exclamation mark, and in my head, I always read all the dialogue as ridiculously over-enthused. It's like the kind of silly narration you would typically get from a Fairly Oddparents episode that's centered around the Crimson Chin. This is just a funny trope, and seeing the source material gives me a new appreciation for it!
Another similarity between these two action comic books is that they're not just one story. Both issues have a main story, which is showcased on the cover, but also include other short stories, ranging from cowboys to hunting animals in the jungle. The superhero-themed story on the cover is continued in later issues, and those later issues will contain other shorts as well.
Also, I'm just going to say that the action in these comics are very over-played and almost cliche, specially in the Superman comic books, but I guess that's just another feature that makes them entertaining to read. The level of absurdity is definitely an interest-holder (seriously, Superman? "Balloon beasts?" That's ridiculous!)
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