Week 5: A Contract With God

      It took me a few tries to really get through ‘A Contract With God’ It was rather heavy and I myself didn’t really mesh with the story. I found myself paying more attention to the ridiculously amazing pen work and interesting characters he had created.

      Overall I would have to say that this comic reads very clearly. He used strong darks and values to help each individual panel read clear. Sometimes the detail may become distracting but while squinting at each frame you can really see each composition pull together as a whole. That being said possibly why I feel like some parts are disjoined is because each part (sometimes pages or panels) works better separately rather than as a whole. It’s an even 50/50 on really well vs. randomizing of type placement. When the type is within a composition he really places it so the balance is nice, but since he switches often of type within and outside of compositions it feels disjoined.

      One thing I enjoyed so much about this is the variety of characters, and on top of that the wild expressions. The dramatic feeling from the emotions really sets it apart, and even helped me enjoy the story more. There is no doubt in how each individual is feeling because he captures it in the expressions so well. I would defiantly be interested in viewing more of his characters.

Week 4: Plastic Man

      Upon not being able to find the official book on plastic man I decided to try and find just some Plastic Man comic’s. When I found out exactly who was Plastic Man, I was surprised. Since I had never heard of him before and since I don’t think of someone stretchy being referred to as ‘Plastic’ it was kind of odd. I guess though after a while the name just kind of stuck with me. That this guy was plastic man and that was that.

      It’s a strong possibility that his name controversy inside my head was over powered with something I felt was even more powerful about these comics. I would have to say when I started reading the color used in these comics is ridiculously saturated. The color’s are actually very specifically placed I came to see.  First off it’s the color of Plastic Man’s costume, and since he is the main character it helps him gain importance over other characters. It is also used in backgrounds to bring specific importance to certain panels on the page, and even though the whole comic is very bright the red still stands it’s own against the other colors.Something else the comic does is breakup the monotony of full colored panels one after another by making some panel background-less. The white is actually refreshing to the eyes. I’m glad I looked through these it was a nice read.

Week 3: The Adventures of Prince Achmed

     This week I looked through Little Nemo also Krazy and Ignantz but I couldn’t find specifically the stories you wanted us to read. So I looked up The Adventures of Prince Achmed, and surprisingly found many bits and pieces of it.

      I was drawn to it right away. The quality is so raw and quick cut and simplistic, using positive and negative shapes. The whole movie was entirely a graphic positive shape of black depicting the characters and environments on a negative background of a solid color (sometimes including soft shifts in that color to signify mountains and such). You think this could work perfectly and can be made very simplistic, but not in this case. Lotte Reiniger creates really complex backgrounds, trees with every branch. Animals with complex and detailed fur, and somehow he makes it work and it is never too much. His characters that hold importance have interesting traits and even though are all just black shapes they can be told apart, via specific clothing or shapes/features exaggeration.  Specifically there is a part where Achmed is amongst trees and bushes when suddenly bird people appear in the sky. He hides and the bird people come down and shed their costumes. Okay so this whole scene is filled with intricate feathers and trees in a small, enclosed space. Then these people take off their costumes all while someone is hiding within a bush or intricate leaves.  It sounds like a disaster of detail, but somehow the fact of the positive and negative shapes work really well here. With Achmed hiding in the bush a strong negative shape around both the bush and Achmed really helps him pop and is 100% readable.

      For the context and overall execution this film really works as a final piece. While searching for this I found more of his other works and I would defiantly enjoy watching some of them as well.

Week 2: Understanding Comic's

I found that reading  ‘Understanding Comics’ was quite a challenge.  Some of his concepts were hard to wrap my mind around and I’m not sure if I completely soaked up all of the information he was giving me. When he explained the six step process I found myself unable to keep up with his jumping around and am not sure I understood that part at all. However what I did grasp from this reading was insightful. I personally read a lot of manga and watch Asian cartoons as well, and when he started discussing the difference in techniques of western vs. Asian styles I could instantly draw the connection.

When he mention’s the fact that Asian comic’s are know for keeping a simple style but changing it to detailed for Important purpose, I was reminded of many comics I have read example, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. When I first heard about this show/comic I knew the characters in their fully drawn out form, but when I looked into the comics I was surprised to see them drawn in a more simplistic style. Reading rather along I realized the more drawn out style was specifically used to show the transition into a battle sequence. When this transition happens you know something is going down and it kind of makes you excited to see what’s going to happen. This technique is incredibly handy and brings a lot of appeal in my opinion. 

Week 1: Shaun Tan 'The Arrival'

First off, while reflecting on the story I decided that the key point was family with and an awareness of people; all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. Since 'The Arrival' has no words Tan uses repetition of these two very important aspects to help readers understand what's happening. Mind you, he does use tons of other devices to help the story along, such as, flow between panels and value to trigger attention, but the main thing holding this together is the repetition.

A portrait of a mother, father and daughter is frequently present throughout the story and gives the reader familiarity as well as purpose to the story. Once you figure out this man is leaving his family the rest of the story needs no explaining. Every time the portrait pops up it is to show that he is still waiting to see his family again. To enhance this Tan puts a set of 9 images near the beginning and end of the book to wrap it around. Just by the appearance of the objects in the photos and the quality of the objects it is evident that this family has moved on from the dingy beginning to the bright and happier new world.

The idea behind this family stands strongly on the theme of immigration and people. After finishing the comic and thinking about how it tells the story without words I noticed that before the story even begins Tan has put a 2 page spread of portraits of various people from different places around the world. This little thing really shows the thought put behind building a base for the story, as well as the mood. The portraits can suggest what is to come with their expressions and clothes as well as the arrangement of the drawings themselves; like each separate box is a cell containing them that they want to break free from. These portraits signify all of the people this story is about, people living though hardships looking for a better life, and Tan builds upon it more by introducing us to some of these people along the main lead’s journey. Even though we don’t know them and can’t understand them we are able to connect with them through the little snip bits Tan gives us. The story wraps up in a very simple and memorable way. Of all the people we meet through this journey this last girl, who has just arrived in the new world, holds a lot of symbolism. As this family settles down into their new life they end there chapter and pass it along to someone new who needs to adapt to the new world like them. Showing that this book is not just a journey of this man at all, that these people Tan shows before and after the story in a grid of portraits, they all are the story.

In conclusion I feel this story was such a delight to view. The flowing sceneries are defiantly such a great addition to the concept. Everything about if works perfectly as a whole, I have no complaints.