Lit. of Comics and the Graphic Narrative

This week I read Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. This was an absolutely amazing read, extremely different from comics and graphic novels I have read before. First of all, we have a male character that is 50 rears old. That by itself is unique. We do see male main characters very often but never ones that are this age. Also The use of color is extremely refreshing. It manages an interesting color palette that keeps thing graphic and utilizes colors to create depth. This is the first time I see this use of color on comics. Also the typography is absolutely bonkers. The author plays with the size of the fonts in order to give importance to a sentence. This feels like something irrelevant but makes the comic feel more like a conversation. Overall this comic was extremely enjoyable. Utilizing smart techniques that make this work stand out from others.

For this week I read "Battle Angel Alita Last Order". It is extremely interesting to go from french comics to Japanese ones. There is definitely a large contrast between the art styles. Japanese comics enhances the characters features in order to become more appealing. I know that this is largely to to the influence that betty boo had in japan at the time. Her bug eyes where appealing to the Japanese and so they decided to incorporate this element into their artwork. This has become an essential characteristic that is used to identify an anime style. Of course this is extremely present in Battle Angel Alita. Something else that manga does that in not commonly seen on other comics or graphic novels, is that they take advantage of the "book" format and some times use 2 pages in order to create a large horizontal illustration. This helps give a feeling of deepness to the story. On the last blog post I mentioned how the french tend to touch on more mature topics. Well, ...

For this week I decided to read a French comic, the name of this comic is Sky Doll. The difference from American comics to French ones is striking. First of all, the artwork is drastically different. This tends t vary from artist to artist but European comics tend to be consistent on their detail artwork through the entire comic. The other mayor way they differ is with subject matter. European content tends to be more “Not Safe For Work”. Not that American comics are innocent all the time, but the French are definitely bolder. For example, Sky Doll is about a “Sex Doll” that is alive and wants to be treated like a “Human”. Already the basic plot of the comic feels different from Classic American Stories. This being said, the purpose of the comic is not to be grotesque. It explores interesting themes that are intriguing to read. Overall, European comics nor nor worse or better just different and definitely worth reading.

Today we live on a world of change. We live on an era that denies stereotypes and pushes forward innovation every day. This is no exception with comics. It is clear that the use of stereotypes has progressed throughout the medium. Personally, I find myself reading comics with strong female protagonists all the time. This I think is because growing up I would mainly see male protagonists all the time so its refreshing to see something different. One comic I’ve been reading recently that breaks a lot of stereotypes is Ava‘s Demon. This is a web comic that has a lead female character that is completely insecure about herself. I guess in a way I identify with the character, which is nice because the stereotypical male character is something I can’t really identify with. Overall I think The use of stereotypes has progressed for the better and that soon this will be an industry where stereotypes are nonexistent.