"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.