"One Punch Man" (Original Web Comic)

One Punch Man has become more and more popular over the past two years. Before it was an anime, before it was a beautifully drawn professional manga, it was a crappily drawn webcomic. The fact that is started out as some artist taking a chance and putting his work out there even though he knew it didn’t have the best art, he took a chance anyways. As long as the story is strong, it will shine through.

I appreciate the ridiculous characters and hilarious nods to other mainstream media. Not to mention the Saitama face. When translating from the source material to the professional material I love that some of the original drawing style and dialogue was kept the same.

Saitama is a very relatable character in terms of being bored with his life. His facial expressions are also very relatable.

The introduction of Genos is probably one of the most awkward ways to introduce a character ever. Genos appears to be a badass powerful cyborg that’s gonna save the day. Hilariously he has his ass handed to him by a mosquito and of course Saitama kills it with one punch.

There are many theories going around about just how Saitama got his powers. I don’t think doing an insane workout routine every day will make you an invincible superhero. I might make you bald but I don’t think it’ll turn you into Superman.

"Hellboy Wake the Devil"

Hellboy has to be one of the classic examples of an antihero. He’s selfish, rude and blunt yet he still does what’s right even if it is in unconventional ways.

I first discovered Hellboy when I was staying up late one night flipping through the movie channels at home. I saw one of the live action movies with Ron Perlman. It’s almost hard not to read the comics in his voice now.

I love the references and ties to historic events that actually happened. Kind of spinning it into something fantastical and completely off topic from what it actually is.

The ridiculous technology that is used throughout the works is really cool. It has a vintage feel with some modern sci-fi twists.

Hellboy himself produces the majority of the comedy and the icebreakers in the story and that is hilarious. He kind of reminds me of a more serious Deadpool with a pessimistic view on life and the world. Knowing Hellboy’s past and backstory along with how he’s treated by the general public/media I can see why he’s so down on life and himself.

The sharp and graphic art style works well with the subject matter. Shading with mostly black seems to be a common way of drawing for darker subject matter. Also the fact that Hellboy is the brightest character in the story, he sticks out in whatever panel he’s in.

"Rat Queens"

I loved this comic. The art style is similar to mine and that resonated with me. The fantasy genre has always interested me and reading this that concept comes across very strong.

The facial expressions are strong and aesthetically pleasing; the variety of body types, species and races is greatly appreciated. It has a solid plot and good breaks in between action sequences.

The chemistry between Tizzy and Hannah is awesome and is well written. They always take verbal shots at each other while in the middle of a fight. Again, it’s a good break from the action of the battles. Clashing personalities are used a lot, sometimes overused; but Tizzy balances out Hannah and that helps the story flow.

In terms of theming it is a cross between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings but with badass female leads.

Some of the transitions could have been a little clearer. I was lost at one point but it came back around and I found my place again.

This deals a lot with sacrifice and impulse decision making which are good topics to talk about. I recommend this and I plan to continue reading this when I have time in the future.

"Alice in Sunderland"

This has to be one of the trippiest comics I have ever read. There were so many colors and subject matters that it was almost overwhelming. It didn’t help either that the art style changed every page. In my opinion it was a mess. It did however give a valuable history lesson. I learned things that I never knew before. The history events also went chronologically, so at least I wasn’t confused about that part.

I liked the art style that was somewhat consistent though. I feel that people need a better lesson in history so if this is what it takes for people to get knowledge then that’s okay with me.

Using actual images and cutting and pasting them together is a good way to get away with not drawing anything. The comic was fairly long so That’s understandable.

I feel that the main audience member represents the general population in terms of learning and understanding history and art. He starts off rude and ignorant and stays that way through most of the work. The stubbornness of the man in the audience is compared to the desire of the stage performer trying to get him to appreciate something that used to be so popular.

I would have liked it to be a little bit shorter and a little clearer but otherwise it was really interesting.

"Death Note"

Re Reading Death Note made me flash back to my freshman year of highschool. I was really into manga at that time of my life and I kinda still am today. I started out with the cliche “How to Draw Manga” book and started getting more serious as I started to figure out that art was something that I wanted to make a career out of.

Death Note was also one of the first anime’s that I watched. Personally I feel it was pretty close to the manga but others can fight me about it. Now the fact that Netflix is coming out with a live action version with a terrible cast and the fact that they’re changing the story and I can list all 1,000,000 problems wrong with it but I won’t…………..

Re reading  made me re examine Light’s character and how he came to be Kira. Light appeared to be more innocent to me the first time but knowing who he becomes it kind of makes sense. His transformation and perversion of his morals speak to the nature of humanity. How we strive to rid the world of evil but in the process we become evil ourselves. Ryuk was the best part of the series hands down.

"Tank Girl"

My first impressions of this comic are mixed. It is very gritty and action packed, you can definitely tell that this is aimed towards a male audience. It almost reminds me of Mad Max. The art style is so rough and packed full of scratchy detail. Tank Girl herself is loud, proud and extremely reckless. Her design is unique and I can see the influences in modern media. For example, in Deadpool her design resembles Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Also the new Mad Max movie references Tank Girl heavily. The post apocalyptic theme has been extremely popular lately.

This comic has outrageous characters. The anthropomorphic characters are especially interesting. The designs are creative and different and Tank girl appears to change outfits every few pages. That gives the work a refreshing quality. I hate it when a character only has one specific design or outfit. Dressing them differently give more of a feel for their personality and how they express themselves.

The actual plot is a little hard to follow. From what I’ve read so far all she seems to do is go around causing destruction. It’s mostly action and ridiculous scenarios. It’s hilarious at times and kind of disturbing others.

I love comics with bad ass female leads and this catches my eye. I had heard of Tank Girl before but I never got around to reading it. If I have time I might continue it later on over the summer.

"March"

Reading this comic made me really think about what people went through just to get the right to sit and eat at a diner or ride on a bus. As a nation we are far from where we once were but we still aren’t all equal yet. Given the fact that it’s the 21st century and people are still fighting for basic rights is unbelievably sad, disturbing and just unconstitutional. As kids we’re taught that everyone is equal under the eyes of God; despite being an atheist, I still uphold that principle. Our nation was founded on the principles of freedom and equality and if our founding fathers could see us now they’d be ashamed!

This work gave an important look back on a point in history that many don’t want to talk about. The struggles that the people faced are real. Having it told as a first hand account helped emphasize the fact that John Lewis was actually there on the front lines of this fight. I think that all should read this at some point of their lives to understand what everyone fought so hard for.

During the point in the story where Lewis was making his way up the midwest and ended up in Buffalo, kind of touched my heart. Being from Buffalo myself, we pride ourselves in helping our neighbors no matter who they are. Having this be the place where Lewis first experienced what it was like to be equal almost made me cry. I wish that all could feel safe and free in this country and one day I think we’ll get there. This taught me that progress is slow and things don’t happen overnight.

In terms of the illustrations, the high contrast black and white images fit with the tone of the story. The way that the medium was used reminded me of scratchboard, ink wash and ink work. The dramatic lighting and the harshness of the ink emphasized the dramatic parts of the story. I love pen and ink, but my hand is too shaky to do it well.

"Maus"

One of my favorite things about the story is how historically accurate it is. Dealing with a subject like the Holocaust can be tricky. It's not something people like to talk about, especially today with our current president and his hate for certain religions, ethnicities and groups.

Given the fact that some people believe that the Holocaust never existed is kind of disturbing. They actually don’t think that mass genocide exists. That’s messed up.

The symbolism is probably the strongest quality that the story has. The use of the cat and mouse to represent the Nazi and the Jewish population are genius. The way that the characters are drawn fits with the subject matter. Sometimes the lighting is very dramatic and the ink work becomes scratchy and harsh. That fits in well with the darker aspects of the comic. For the side that isn’t dealing with death, starvation and all the heavy subjects, the characters are drawn in a more cartoonists style. If the comic was drawn in one consistent dark style, then the brief points of joy and humor would be lost.

My favorite part of the novel had to be when the cake ended up being having laundry soap in it. I think that was a good tension breaker. That’s something that Maus does well, it takes one of the heaviest subjects in history and puts humanity into it. I highly recommend this book!

"The Killing Joke"

1. This is one of my favorite comics of all time. It takes the struggle between morals and vengeance and pits them against each other. I love this because it shows just how far the Joker is willing to go just to get Batman to kill him; to see if he can get him to abandon his moral principles to take revenge for what was done to Barbara and The Commissioner. This issue is bloodier and in a way more real than any other issues that DC has published. It kind of scared me when first reading it because I had always known that the joker would eventually do something as messed up as this but finally seeing it freaked me out. He became more of a real world villain than a comic villain. The way that it ended surprised me. I had expected Batman to finally abandon his morals and end the endless cycle that is him and the Joker. Having Batman laugh at the joke in the end is extremely symbolic, it is almost like Batman finally snapped and he is right on the edge of insanity.
2. I was able to connect to the reality of the Joker’s crimes. My favorite type of TV shows are those which pick at the topic of the criminal underworld; for example, Criminal Minds. I felt like this could actually happen, especially with all the violence going on in the country right now. While I have no personal experiences with a psychotic killer clown I think that everyone can relate to the desperation that Batman feels when it comes to seeking justice for those he loves.  
3. Given the fact that an animated movie was recently released last year based on this work, I would do the same. When I watched the movie I expected them to change many aspects of the story and plot, but it stayed pretty true to the source material. I would have played more on the internal struggle that Batman faces and highlighted the moments where he almost breaks his moral promise. I also would have included more flashbacks of when Bruce first made his moral oath. Since the Joker and Bruce have such similar pasts dealing with personal loss and desperation, it would be interesting to show just exactly how they developed differently. I would also emphasize the foreshadowing of the Red Hood and how it becomes such an important part of the comics. I would however change the animation style, making it more realistic and lifelike. To really scare the audience to convince them that this could really happen.  

Underground Comics

Once the comic industry had taken off, many of the artists who wished to publish their works could only do so through a monopoly of publishers. Because of this the work became censored and less diverse. The publishers were only concerned with what will sell and not about the quality or subject matter of the content. As a result of this, many artists chose to go underground to publish their works, since there were no censors in place to stop them. A good majority of the work published deals with adult themes and situations. For example, sex, drugs and violence. There is no filter in the underground so that means anything can get published.

I read the “Tijuana Bibles” for this week. Let’s just say that this is straight pornography with no real plot what so ever. This was a little uncomfortable to read but I guess that was the point of it. This was targeted towards a specific audience and I guess I’m not a part of that audience.

The art style bothered me as to how little detail was put into it. It reminded me of Japanese woodcuts because of the thick lines and linear shading. But for the budget that it had I guess the style is appropriate for the content. A crude style for crude subjects.

Will Eisner

Will Eisner’s “The Spirit” is one of the first quality comics involving a masked hero next to Batman and Superman. The Spirit is a detective story, similar to that of Batman. The similarities between Batman and the spirit stem from the competition at the time. The desire for a masked detective was very popular during the time so many comic creators sought to create just that.

Will Eisner drew inspiration from the film noir genre and cashed in on the popularity of it. This made his work stand out both in content and in style. I read the first issue and picked up on this right away within the first few pages. The slightly fantastical nature of the comics added a sense of excitement and helped keep the story from being the stereotypical hero vigilante story.

Will’s other work, “A Contract With God” is considered one of the first graphic novels to be published by a major company. Although I never had the chance to read this I have heard how it deals with realistic and difficult subjects in a way that was never done before.

The difficulty to get his work published spoke to the censorship of comics at the time. Even today, the media still seeks to censor some works. The public was conditioned to think that comics were pure and innocent and for kids, but through his graphic novel, Eisner pushed through and set off the movement of adult topics in the graphic narrative.

Carl Barks

Carl Barks is famous for his work at Disney on the Donald Duck comics. For the better half of his career, he remained anonymous as an artist for Disney. Many artists that worked for Disney remained anonymous during their time at the company. They mostly did all the work and Disney took all the credit. For the longest time while he did remain anonymous, he signed his work with a signature barking dog so that it was known that it was his work. He was given the name “Good Duck Artist” after he was no longer anonymous.

The issue that I read was “The Beauty Business”. This issue focused on Donald running a beauty parlor and evidently giving Daisy a makeover.

This issue speaks to the self image that women have and how even in children’s comics this issue of beauty is engrained into the minds of the audience. Throughout the issue, Daisy’s Niece’s seek to sabotage Donald’s efforts to help Daisy. This undermines her self confidence and only further leads to the moral of the story. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that one shouldn’t put so much effort into what other people think.

This is good for the younger audience reading this because it teaches them of society’s messed up expectations of beauty.

The style that Barks chose to use for this is exaggerated and over the top. He uses bright color and expressive lines to give a hint at the ridiculousness of the topic.

"Little Nemo"

“Little Nemo in Slumberland” by Winsor McCay is one of the first well known weekly comic strips of the time. It tells of the adventures of a little boy named Nemo embarking on grand adventures in his dreams. The comic always begins with Nemo in his bed where he meets a character from one of his dreams. That character then whisks him away in some magical form. After his grand adventure, he ends up back in his bed. After this adventure, he fell out of bed at the end of the strip.

This speaks to the psyche of the child and how they fall back to their imaginations; especially during times of distress or change. The comic was created and ran before, during and after WW1. This was a time where instability reigned over the world and everyone was unsure of the future. Many people turned to comics and art during this time which provided a sense of escape for those affected. This goes for Nemo as well. He escapes into the world of dreams to avoid the reality that is all around him.

The overall feel of the comic is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz. Both of which came into being during times of conflict and instability. People needed a little fantasy in their lives and these creators took advantage of this.

The art style is very colorful and well drawn. The style is distinct enough to set it apart from other comic works of the time.

"Understanding Comics"

In Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, the thing that struck me the most is how we recognize things. We don’t see things as objects or words, instead the are actually icons. We just associate them as something more than they actually are. I had never thought about this before I read the graphic novel.

Another thing that it put into perspective for me is the difference in styles and storytelling in different geographical regions of the world. For example, Eastern vs. Western comics. Eastern comics tend to focus more on details only after something is mentioned or brought up. Western comics tend to be consistent in this and details throughout the works.

The differences in stylization are also apparent. Some comic artists favor realistic scenarios, ideas and styles, while others tend to go more stylized and surreal. It is mentioned that the more stylized something is the more iconic it becomes. This goes along with the idea of icons and symbols and how the brain recognizes them. The same goes for the types of words used in the graphic novel as well. The ones with more actions rather than words get their ideas across faster than those that use an obscene amount of words just to explain such a small detail.

In the end it comes down to the author and their vision in how they want to get their point across. We as readers can only hope that they understand enough about comics to engage us in the right way.

Ernst's "A Week of Kindness" Translation

Max Ernst’s A Week of Kindness roughly deals with subjects like fear, death and abuse. In each panel and section there is a repeating element, such as the rooster or the Easter Island head. He tackles darker subject matter while adding a touch of horror with the repeating element. The majority of the time, the men are the ones depicted as the repeating objects. For example, in several of the first panels, the man has the head or body of the chicken. The same goes for the final few panels with the Easter Island head. The repeating elements are never put in a good situation, they are always inflicting some point of pain or suffering.

The first day, the element is blackness and the example is the rooster. The term “blackness” can be a reference to death or lack of light. Many of the illustrations deal with some type of death or darkness. This can be translated into the meanings behind the work and what the author’s intent was.

The second part of the work deals with the regrets that man face. They are shown in situations where they are showing sorrow or self pity. It implies that the Easter Island head is them putting on a brave face to hide their sorrow as not to be perceived as weak or emotional.

Many deal with the subjectification and torture of women and how men are perceived as evil or cowardly. The fact that the men don’t have faces can speak to the hidden side to them that only their wives see. This can speak to the possible abuse that the author witnessed or was a part of in his life. It focuses on internal psychology and the taboos of the time.

"The Arrival" Reflection

The graphic novel, The Arrival by Shaun Tan is a work that communicates its message without the use of words. The use of sequential pictures that show emotion and expression give the reader a way to connect to the story without any immediate explanation. With a multitude of comics and novels out there, Tan had to find a way of expression without his work getting lost in the endless sea of work. His use of wordless panels gave the story originality and also helped the reader connect to the story. Since the story is about a group of immigrants making their way in a new country, everything is so strange to them and they find it hard to understand and communicate without the use of words.

His illustrations emphasize expression, mood and the surrealistic feeling that these immigrants are going through. Switching from larger scale illustrations to smaller panel pictures give a sense of scale. In several of the larger scale illustrations, they are often surrealistic landscapes with large amounts of detail. While the smaller illustrations are mainly for the characters and focusing on their expressions and experiences in the strange new world. His use of warm and cool grays in the work help resonate the mood of the present scene and give the illustrations more of a dramatic feel.  

Changing the point of view of several characters gives the reader more than one story to follow and creates interest through this. It makes the reader want to find out what happens next to a particular set of characters.

The Arrival is a prime example that an author doesn’t need words to communicate their message.