Week Fourteen: The Meek and White Ninja

This final week I looked through The Meek and White Ninja. The Meek was really cool, so far I've really been into the story and would like to keep reading more of it. It's awesome that Der-shing Helmer has made it an online comic, I just don't understand how artists are able to make money frommm it then? White Ninja was funny too but you know it was done a lot quicker than The Meek. So how is an artist rewarded for all that time put into making a piece? Maybe... they're not? Hmmm.

I'm not sure if I am more for web comics and "real" comics. I really enjoy hoping a book and flipping through pages. The experience of doing that feels like part of becoming part of this other world. But on the computer is okay too, and with the Ipads, maybe it's the way to go? 

I think web comics will probably start to become more of a focus, but I don't think paper comics will ever go out.

Extra Credit: Cosmix

COSMIX! Hmmhmmmhmmmm my favorite piece of the night was probably Trish & Gil. I think that was the title.. it's the one with the girl and her new boyfriend whose a total jerk. What really struck me about that piece was how it was filmed. I looved how the audience was getting to see the shot from so many different angles. And then from those different angles different things in that scene were revealed. So cool. I feel like that using the camera and screen in that way is something that could be definitely be used for future films.

Tranquility was really nice too, it wasn't super long and there wasn't really anything except landscapes, but again I enjoyed the way the artist really used the dome.

Miss Clark Introduces Panorama was fun too, I don't think the title of it was suppose to appear on the west side of the dome, but I really liked that it made the audience have to adjust to discover what it was. The content was funny and though it was much different than the last two pieces I listed it too used the full dome very well (good job :) !

"Buy the Ticket..." was another one that although I would have been okay with it being shorter, was really interesting to watch. The Jones' used the dome in a much more abstract than Trish & Gil, Tranquility and Miss Clark but they still used it well. I think after some time I had to stop watching the screen because it was making me dizzy but Jason was telling me it started to look as if the pattern had reversed. I'd be cool to hear how they composed that and what kind of optical illusions they looked into while making it.

I think the thing I liked least about Cosmix this year was how abruptly everything ended. A lot of the work ended without warning it made them feel unresolved.

Week Thirteen: Preacher and Hellboy

This week I started off with Preacher. I wasn't really sure what it was about and thought I'd try it out. After not too long I realized it wasn't what I wanted to read, the content was eh, the comic is drawn in a grungy/dirty/white trash kind of style that I'm not really drawn to. So I decided to look into Hellboy, not expecting to really get much from it but I was pleasantly surprised. I haven't seen the movie, but I kind of assumed the comic would mimic the huge rock-like-yet-still-realistic-looking muscles I had seen in the trailers. Instead I was met with Mike Mignola's flat shapes and minimalistic characters. I read through the one about.. Nazi's ? Though I'm not hugely interested in super heros I did enjoy reading through and looking at Mignola's work. It's nice to see where people have taken super heros and how they've changed.

Week Twelve: Arabian Nights

This week I read through Lillian Chestney's Arabian Nights. Her style was really whimsical and "inky." There have been some comics that have heavy inking that I reallyyy don't like, but Lillian does a good job of mixing up her lines and giving different things different weight.

Though these stories shouldn't have been brand new to me, most of them were. The stories were really engaging as well as each layout for each page. This would be a great comic to see in person cause I think there's just so much you can take in, and it'd be nice to see them with the page they were intended to be seen with. There were some points were the layout of one panel was so intricate (for example there was a circular panel that was being held by a woman) that I was confused and not sure if the character and/or things around the panel were part of the scene or just a decoration.

The whole comic really reminded me of the short film we had watched towards the beginning of the year, I think theyy were connected somehow..

Week Eleven: Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth

For this week I read Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth. I must say at first I was really confused, I didn't realize that Ware was taking us to all different time periods of Jimmy's life. It's not the the style or the content really changed, I think the character just didn't register as the same person to me.  The comic was okay, the content left you feeling kind of isolated and alone. Which I suppose it the intent of the comic itself. You feel like this world that Jimmy lives in is pretty lonely. He's always doing things alone or with his mom, his interactions with other people seems very limited. Ware makes sure to never show anyone else's face (thoughhh you do see the his mom's face in the very beginning and "Super - Man"s masked face at the end). Not only that but he also draws Jimmy different from the other characters. He's made Jimmy into this kind of soft cartoony guy while the world around him tends to be feel harder and more realistic. I guess that also play into all the strange things that he'll do that aren't possible (like shooting himself, shrinking, or digging a fork into his arm). The title is also interesting, "The Smartest Kind on Earth"... ? Jimmy doesn't really do anything. He's always alone. He doesn't have any friends. And he's extremely awkward. I suppose it's either a sarcastic title or a comment on who we see as smart in our world today. I think it's just to be stupid and add to the strange/awkward quality of the comic holds to. Ware artistically approaches Jimmy's world in a isolated/lonely way but just having flat color everywhere.

I think my favorite panels are the ones of the outside of Jimmy's house over a day or so, where you see the light change and his light being on, and his neighbor's lights being off (I think those are the only colored panels with more line work too? so they really stand out. Interesting choice).

The story was hard to follow. I didn't always understand what was happening, if he was dreaming? or just flashing back, or just day dreaming.

Overall it was okay, not something I'd invest a lot of time into reading.

Week Ten: Blacksad!

Ohhh Blacksad was a fun find for this week. Though it was listed on the resource page in French I was able to follow the story pretty perfectly. I translated a few panels to be sure I was correct in my assumptions but it was really refreshing to just be able to look through a comic and understanding the whole story. Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido did a great great job telling the story. The whole comic feels like film noir too, really awesome shots and great drawings. 


I went through Blacksad: Quelque part entre les ombres and Arctic Nation. Hmm betweeeen the two, I'm not sure which I liked more. The story had more depth in Arctic Nation, I think that's just because there was more of a back story with the polar bear and the idea of dealing with "fur color" relates back to the civil rights movement and segregation. Compared to the death of an ex-lover, it just felt heavier and a little more established. But I enjoyed both.


Other than Maus I think Blacksad has been my favorite comic of the semester. It's a work that I would definitely reference for composition and shots in my own work. 

Week Nine: Maison Ikkoku

I've never been a big Manga fan, I think I was actually quite against it for awhile. I guess just because in precollege there were people that drew Manga and I remember it being announced "There is a whole country that can draw Manga better than you. So draw something else." But other than seeing my brother watch DragonballZ I never really got anywhere close to anything Manga related. This week I read through Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku. It's a bit cheesy and silly, it feel a lot like a looser Archie. There's a silly guy with a crush on the Manager of the house, there's other weird guests that live there and are distracting and keeping him from the love of his life. Kind of typical, but I think the light heartedness of it has been refreshing and enjoyable. Something I can see myself reading once a week.