Maus

            This week’s read was “Maus” and boy was it intense. It’s just a superb concept to tell a holocaust survivor’s tale using animal characters, and in comic form no less. As Art Spiegelman even addressed in his book, holocaust stories, both true accounts and fictional, have been written a million times over. This is a great way to interest a new audience that wouldn’t normally read these sorts of stories, and having it in comic form makes it accessible to all. It’s really quite fascinating. It helps that I love history and WWII is one of my favorite time periods to read and learn about.   

            I really liked the contrast of going back and forth between WWII Europe and 1980’s America. It really added a whole other level to the characters. The not entirely chronological storytelling method is also very effectively used here. It’s like a story being told within a story. It’s Art’s relationship with his aging father as well as Vladeck’s story of surviving the war. It is also Art’s personal story about himself and his family. It is very compelling to be privy to that sort of insight into, not only a character, but the author as well, seeing as how these events are true for the most part.  

            The art style is also very interesting. It’s simple but very effective. I also find it interesting that most of the characters look the same with only minor changes in clothing and body type but it never becomes confusing as to which character is which. From a purely artistic standpoint, that is quite a feat. The choice to make all the different nationalities different animals is a great concept as well. I liked the imagery for when Vladeck is trying to conceal that he is a Jew. He wore a pig mask because the Poles were depicted as pigs. It helps illustrate just how hard it would have been for them to hide and blend in with the crowd.

            This graphic novel has definitely been one of my favorites so far. It is incredibly compelling and very well written and illustrated. It’s amazing that Speigelman can create such emotional connections with his audience using only animal caricatures. This is definitely a story I would read again and recommend to others.         

Early Comic Books

These are the comics that I always loved as a kid. These and the other “costumed hero” comics that rose from these early works. Many of the characters such as Donald Duck, Popeye, Little Lou Lou and Bugs Bunny I am more familiar with through cartoons rather than the comics but they were still a major part of my childhood. I absolutely adored super hero comics when I was a kid and would read whatever I could find on them. Of course growing up in a small town with no comic book stores within a hundred miles, it was a little difficult but it didn’t hinder my fascination with them.

            Some of my favorites were the “Tales from the Crypt” comics; of course I only read those when I was a little older. I loved anything having to do with monsters and mystery back then, as that was also my favorite movie genre. The grotesque and off-kilter fascinated me as a kid so those comics were right up my alley. When I got older and started becoming interested in comics from an artist/writer standpoint, it really upset me to learn that people had such a vendetta against comics of that sort back then. I know it all extends from fear and lack of understanding as most biases do, but it still upset me that so many people bought into that, and even more so that the government got involved in inhibiting creative freedom.

It also stemmed from the belief that comics were only for children and that any adult content that they might have would corrupt the youth. This is much like how animation is seen today, in the U.S. anyway. Most people are ignorant of what a vast genre it is and that just because it is animated does not mean that it is for children as any anime fan is well aware of.

I really have a great appreciation for these comics as they paved the way for some of the most long-lasting comics that still exist today. This was the medium that shaped my childhood and I’m glad that it is thriving today and being recognized for the great art form that it is.   

Will Eisner "Contract With God"

For this week, I read Will Eisner’s graphic novel “Contract With God.” This was definitely one of my favorites so far. I was very impressed with the quality of the work and the heart behind the stories. For being one of the first graphic novels, I was very impressed with how similar it is to modern graphic novels.

            The novel tells several different stories about residents of the tenement at 55 Dropsie Avenue, the Bronx, New York. Most of the residents are immigrants and tells their stories of living in the U.S. After hearing the lecture about Will Eisner in class, I can tell that many of these stories seem to be inspired by events in his life. The stories are all very well written and illustrated and have a very strong emotional impact. Each of the stories starts out pretty normal but it is the twists and turns that each one takes are what really makes them fascinating. The characters are all surprisingly three-dimensional for how short the stories are. Eisner really has a gift for getting his readers emotionally invested.

            I’ve always been fond of short story compilation graphic novels, so this one was right up my alley. Each of the stories could be read in any order or by themselves and still tell a complete story. With that said, all of them still seem to connect in some way. Its really fascinating and a great feat of storytelling.    

Underground Comics

            Where to begin with underground comics? They are interesting to say the least, if not exactly my cup of tea… I read quite a few from the selection provided and, I’m sorry to say, I would be quite pressed to name one that I actually liked. I understand the time period in which these were created; sticking it to the man, and challenging convention and what not. I understand what they were trying to accomplish but most of them to me just come off as cheap shock value and crude humor. Not exactly the kind of comics that I enjoy reading. 

            Some of them I can see as being satirical and sort of giving a middle finger to the Comics Code Association. Such as one particular comic featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse in a…shall we say compromising position. I can understand the satirical angle they were trying to go with as the Disney comics and such were on the rise due to the Comics Code. I can see comic artists and writers wanting to poke fun at it. 

            It is also fairly obvious that the writers and illustrators of these comics were mostly young men seeing as most of their subject matter revolves around sex and is incredibly sexist towards women. Unfortunately that was a rather common occurrence in that time period as the comic book industry was very much a male dominated profession, but I digress. 

            In short, they were interesting and probably shocking for their time, but not really my thing. I can appreciate that they were a part of comic history, but I probably would not go out of my way to read more of these on my own.