Re-Write The Arrival

Seeing that we have to do a we-right for our last blog I have decided that I would just bring it full circle and end with the graphic novel that launched the whole course. Plus I really enjoyed the story and the illustrations so I thought it would be fun to see what I find different about looking at the novel now.
The fist thing that I noticed this time around is that he uses a cooler or warmer tone to the images in reflection to his mood at the time. When he is not so happy working fast or on an unknown new journey the images are cooler and harsher, but when things are on the up and up he is happy and especially when his family makes it to finally be with him again the images are much warmer and happier in feel. I really like the grainy texture to his images as well it makes everything more peculiar which I think is good because the whole story is a bit peculiar in itself. I really like that he sticks to his standard grid and varies the size of the panels based on time, when things happen quicker the images are smaller and when he takes a moment to really look and see what is going on the images are larger. I still really love when he is traveling on the boat in the beginning of the story how he shows time traveled through the weather making the images warmer to cooler based on night and day. He also does an amazing job showing expression tone and mood through the facial expression that he gives the characters, I really enjoyed the section when he is trying to communicate with someone you can see the confusion in both of their faces but once the man starts drawing images to describe the words that he is trying to explain you can instantly see a change in their expressions and the clarity of the two men being able to understand each other. The reality of the story and the surrealism of the images gives a really interesting intrigue to the whole book. It is so familiar but yet so different that you are able to plug in the cities that he maybe in and I feel that this really helps draw the audience in because there is just one more level that we can relate to and interact with. I can see myself in the new city that he finds himself in, to me it's like i'm in chicago or Minneapolis. I just wish we had balloon transportation as well. Wrapping this up I also want to say how I really enjoyed his use of symbols where words should be its kinda cheating on the wordless comic but without that the city would not be as real as it should be. I also really enjoyed the way he shows story telling throughout his traveling and how it just kinda flows in and out, It is a slight confusing transition but once the story is over and you return to where you started from imagery wise you understand that there was a story being told.

Asterios Polyp

Just from looking at the cover and flipping through the pages I was instantly intrested in this books, the colors for one got me so excited but the way he drew the comic was beautiful. The variety of style and the simple ways of showing action in a still frame. Like when his wife is wafting smoke from her face, simple, priceless, and easy to read. I also really enjoyed the variety in the typography I found it to be beautiful as well and to really fit with the flow of the book it also really helped show the mood/feel he was trying to translate. I also really enjoyed the panel variation and page set ups it also really helped give this book a really nice rhythmic feel.
I kinda like the traumatic beginning to the story and the struggles that Asterios goes through, It so much can relate to anyone's everyday life. I know I could relate to his emotional rollercoaster. It really gives the character a super human feel, and really helps get you involved, and keeps me sucked in hoping that he will see blue skies again. throughout the book he struggles with almost a duality problem in everything that he encounters. Apollonian vs. Dionysian, destiny vs. free will, and nature vs. nurture, reason vs. emotion. Nothing can ever just be for him.

Persepolis2/movie

The second book is about marjane's new life outs side of iran. She moves around from place to place never really fitting in and being confused by the western culture that she is being introduced to. She is introduced to many new things such as smoking sex and drugs. She feels a little disgusted in herself at first because she feels as though she is betraying her country and her mothers honor by not being the best she can be, later she starts to join in more but only pretends. It isn't until things continue to go wrong that she finally decides to join in and actually starts participating in drug use. The more things go wrong for her the more she uses. Having troubles in school and with money she calls her mom and asks her to pray for her marjane gets a job and is also selling drugs when confronted by her instructor she quits selling drugs but starts doing more of them herself this turns her boyfriend off and she falls apart. Living on the streets for 2 months she gets sick and then ends up going back to iran.
In the movie the first half is soo much like the first book but when they introduce the second book it starts out by her smoking and briefly talking about what she had went through and then she goes home and they ad some new parts to the story. I'm not sure why the second half doesn't follow the book as closely as the first half does but I enjoyed the movie regardless.
I love how in the second book she still sticks to the black and white images and I also love how she depicts herself in the story. the attitude that she shows in her face throughout all of her tough times. I feel that if she would have switched it up and added color that it would have lost a lot of its energy and would have put a cheerful attitude to something so gloomy.
Even in the movie she holds true to the black and white imagery I just love it. Over all I just love the whole story and how she sticks to her style so well. It's honestly really well done and gets me really excited. I wish there was more to it than just the 2 books and the movie, maybe someday with time she will add a story about her in her old age.

Buddha/mermaid saga

I found the history in this comic to be very interesting, especially not being familiar with Manga or Buddhism at all. It was interesting to see the history of Buddhism portrayed in this manor. I found that this comic had quit a bit more nudity than other comics I have previously read in the past. I also found it strange that it was mostly the children that were running around in the nude, but I guess that must be a part of their traditional history. I am assuming that the only reason why I find this interesting is because I am an american and this is not as socially accepted here as it is in china. The story had a great pace and kept me very entertained throughout the story. The characters and their quest were also very dynamic and left a good impression on me.
I found the art in this novel to be extremely heavy, and intense there is a lot going on and they are very detailed which for a story that is about the beginning of the quest of the enlightened one I found that it was very suiting considering Buddhism is very intense and detailed. The foreground has just great pen detail I really loved the style of the drawings, It's simple in the places where it needs to be which balances out all of the heavy details through out the rest of the spreads. I feel that with the detailed backgrounds that it really helps the characters stand out, and draws you right into the most important part of the page. I also really enjoyed the way that the panels were divided into shapes that were not always square.

I also looked into the mermaid saga, I found this story really awesome just because it was so unpredictable the main character dies and comes back to life and spends the whole time traveling across japan trying to find a cure for his imortality. Along the way meeting other people in his situation. I also liked that it put a whole new twist on what I believed to be such a beautiful creature that was just blessed and beautiful, I never thought of them to be the slightest bit bad or evil. And the myth of eating flesh weather mermaid or human to stay young and or live forever to be fascinating. I also loved how vibrantly beautiful the colors were in this comic. they were super impressive, it was a nice changed to see such a vibrancy.

American born Chinese

I found this story to be extremely entertaining. I loved how it was more like a movie with the 3 different stories each having their own individual problems. The monkey king and no shoes who tries to learn the 12 disciplines of kung fu. Chin-Kee and Danny, Danny having problems with a girl and his cousin, and Jin Wang who fits the american stereotype for a Chinese American in everything that his does, wears, and down to the way he acts. I love that all of the stories come together at a twist right when the climax happens. Its actually a great fit for this novel.
The art work I feel was very fitting for the story and I love how they showed the influences and the chinese sterotypes through the images that were used in the novel. I really loved the use of the bright yellow throughout the novel I think it really helps show the energy that is in the book. The color palate is small and I think that it helps keep the story dynamic and flow well.

Percepolis

In reading percepolis the first book, It really struck me how young she was when the book started and how involved with the war she actually was. It really took me by surprise to see them acting out the war on the school yard when they were on the playground. It was kind of sad actually to see how much it effected the children as well as the adults. It was a whole new perspective that I never really looked at. I love the way she uses black and white throughout the hole comic. I feel that if she would have added color that it would not have been as impactful as it was. It helps show an intensity, and a friction that would not be present if it was a full of color.
She has so much to say and so much descriptions to all of it. There were many places where I connected with Marjane through her rebellions and through her struggles but I found that her struggle with God had to be where I most connected with her. She was so back and forth on weather she could trust him or not. I also really loved the way that she depicted him, he almost looked more like a cross between santa and father time.

Maus

In reading Spiegelman's Maus I found his story to be fascinating. It was almost that because Spiegelman didn't have the best relationship with his father and with the suicide of his mother, all he wanted was answers to find out what, why,when. I feel that him investigating his families history and that in writing this graphic novel that it was a way for Spiegelman to try to find out answers to his life questions. Not necessarily the questions to what happened to his family, but more to answer questions in his own mind, maybe to sort out his feelings of his mothers suicide, and the cruel actions of his father, and how these things effected him. To me it was like Spiegelman used the characters because it was easier for him to talk about the story using figures that were not human. In parts it seems to be playful and fun, but over all it is quite a dreay story and I think it is over emphasized by the contrast that he uses in illustrating the novel. 
In the first half of the story with it focusing on his father and the back and forth banter that they took part in, I feel that this is the first stage of Spiegelman sorting out his childhood issues. I feel that in some ways Spiegelman really relates to his fathers attitude and his crudeness it's almost like he is trying to point out the fact that he is better than his father, that he can handel himself better than his father ever could. It almost feels more like he is resentful. As I worked through the book and move into the second half and more of Spiegelman history unfolds. It's almost as Spiegelman resentments fall apart as he talks about the camp and what they went through, I think this is when he really starts to understand the reasons why his father was so bitter and mean. And when his mother commits suicide and him depicting it so much differently its showing a different understanding for her and her actions. I love the way that Spiegelman calls up the past to talk about different run ins that his father had. It's a nice way to introduce new characters and to help form the story as a whole, and allowing us to see the other people that were effected by the holocaust but not necessarily in the camps. It gives us a better understanding of his fathers time through his time while hiding and a better feeling for his time after he is released from the camp. I did rather enjoy the way that Spiegelman showed the ending of a person with the smoke stacks, i felt that it was a  really nice way to describe it without it being overly horrifying. 
I really enjoyed the way that he gave his characters a voice, and the way that they told the story however sometimes I found myself a little confused on who was who, and that muddied parts of the story for me, but even though some parts got muddy due to my confusion the over all impact of the story to me was very powerful, and a really refreshing new look and way of telling his story.