Web Comics

One of the web comics that I’ve been following for years is “Boxer Hockey” by Tyson Hesse (http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/index.php). I used to follow his personal art page on another website so I know that the character Rittz is based off of the artist. This comic is centered on a sports team of four guys and their coach. The storyline follows the shenanigans they get into on and off the field.

I also read some of  “Hanna is not a boy’s name” by Tessa Stone (http://hanna.aftertorque.com/ ). Which I think is fantastic but suffers from infrequent updating. The reader gets attached to the characters and then it’s basically like standing at the edge of a canyon.

When I was in middle school and into high school I worked on my own web comic. I posted it on my deviantArt account and tried my best not to let three weeks go by without updating. I would draw everything out and use colored pencils to try to give it some pop, and then I would have a friend proof read my pages. My comic really had no overlying plot and just followed a group of goofy high school monsters. However I got some positive feedback from it and even encouragement to keep posting. I didn’t know why people liked my comic but I kept at it for quite awhile and even tried to make an additional two comic stories. Of course, I’m not working on any of them anymore, but sometimes I miss those stories.

Reconsidering the Superhero

I found Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman: A Game of You’ quite strange. After reading it I wasn’t completely sure if I enjoyed it. The style was consistent, however aspects of the characters would change. In one panel Barbie would have an extremely chiseled jaw with a high cheekbone and then two panels later her face is literally a circle. Sometimes I felt like the style tried to be too realistic, and then a certain angle would make a character look crazier than Batman’s Joker.

I did like the twist though, of Barbie and the Cuckoo. The range of the cast of characters was great. I also really liked how there were references to other comic books within some of the discussions. Barbie’s boyfriend being named “Ken” made me laugh. I also really loved the Sandman’s design, and especially how process of the dream world became absorbed was portrayed.

I read the ‘League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ Vol. 2 Chapter 1 as well. Which starts out with an Arabian meets John Carter on Mars kind of feel (they actually are on Mars but eh four armed aliens look similar). Most of the dialogue is in alien scribbles, but we don’t need to read it to understand that it’s commands. War is war. The campaign keeps shifting between who has the upper hand, but the enemy seems to keep the high ground. They divert attention in the belief that they are actually leaving Mars, but in reality there are staging an attack on Earth now, where the two protagonists shown hail from. This first chapter did a fantastic job of hooking me into the story and I really want to read more.

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

‘Anya’s Ghost’ was a quick read, but a fantastic one. I was very excited when I saw this as an option on the reading list. A few of my friends who have taken this course previously highly recommended this book. One of them hinted that there was a great twist near the end. While reading I found it to be more of a natural progression that a ghost might take rather than a “twist.”

I buzzed through the entire book in less than two hours. The story flowed very well and none of the pages were over crowded with panels. The simple style and straightforward storyline supported themselves quite nicely. I didn’t mind the gray scale at all, and the purple tint helped it to stand out.

Anya is very relatable character, whether or not you’ve come from a different country. She just wants to fit in at high school, which most of us know is just about the hardest thing to do. She was stripping away or hiding aspects that are part of who she is, like her accent or lying about her last name. Then Emily floats into her life and for a little bit things were looking up. However you could tell that Anya was uncomfortable with her newfound companion. But hey, who wouldn’t use a ghost to pass a pop quiz? I really liked how Anya owned up to her responsibility. She couldn’t blame anyone else for what Emily turned into. I have to admit I was a little scared for her and her family when she and Emily started fighting.

I think the story showed positive growth for Anya. She learned to stand up for herself more. And sometimes what you want isn’t going to be good for you. I think mostly you should be proud of who you are and don’t put so much stock in other people’s opinions.

Asterios Polyp

So I read ‘Asterios Polyp’ by David Mazzucchelli (who is in the running for THE MOST Italian last name ever). In short, I absolutely loved this graphic novel. It is my favorite story we’ve read so far.  An interesting factor that struck me first was the complete lack of black used in this comic. One of the details I thought was the best was how each character had a different font and speech bubble design. Because everyone talks differently and I thought that was a fantastic way to translate that. The bubbles also portrayed part of the character’s personality. For example: Asterios’ speech was enclosed in a rectangle, reflecting his career as an architect. 

Our main character suffered from survivor’s guilt contributed to the stillborn death of his twin. He has vivid dreams of how his twin’s life would be. Asterios believes he’s the one who should have died. And that chalks up some depressing points in his life. The story has cleanly integrated flashbacks that explain the present without disengaging the reader.

I really enjoyed the parts of the story with Hana. Particularly when she and Asterios first met and were drawn in two styles, eventually becoming the singular style of the rest of the comic when they reached a common ground. This style separation happened again later in the book when they fight and no longer see eye to eye. The foreshadowing was great too. It confirmed whether or not you were really reading the story. The meteor was a fantastic plot point. I also quite enjoyed Ursula’s character. Personally, I don’t believe in horoscopes or soul mates (I do believe in reincarnation), but I thought Ursula was a nice breath of something fresh. She brought in another perspective to the happenings of Asterios’ life.

Five Stars for FullMetal

It wouldn’t be “manga week” if I didn’t talk about my favorite series: ‘FullMetal Alchemist’. I’ve read it start to finish at least three times. FMA is a shounen series, following two teenage brothers.

The story itself is very sad with so many dark overtones. These siblings, Edward and Alphonse, have lost so much. Their father left when they were very young, their mother died a few years later, and in an attempt to bring her back Ed lost two limbs and Al lost his physical body. They relied on the kindness of a childhood friends and her grandmother. But Hiromu Arakawa counters this heaviness by filling as much humor as she can into the writing. Ed hates to drink milk and gets into heated arguments over his insecurity about his height. One of the characters, Major Armstrong, is so over the top you have to laugh at his family pride and never missing the opportunity to show off his muscles. Almost every character has some kind of quirk that can bring about a smile. She also adds humor by playing with how the characters are drawn. Arakawa will simplify and exaggerate features for comedic effect, and she’s quite successful at it.

FullMetal Alchemist takes the reader on an emotional journey. We grow up with the protagonists. We see them through their struggles and their triumphs. I cry at certain parts every time I read the manga. Every time! But I never get tired of reading FMA.

SnK

‘Shingeki no Kyojin’, or ‘Attack on Titan’, is a manga that just recently exploded in popularity. The first season of its anime counterpart premiered this summer, bringing with it a booming number of new readers. I am included in that amount. The manga debuted in 2009, but I didn’t start reading it until the beginning of this summer when I wanted to figure out what the hype was about on tumblr.com centering on some new anime.

The base story line itself is pretty simple. There are these giant humanoid monsters called “titans” that eat humans. The population is down to a handful, maybe a few hundred survivors, which are living inside a walled city. It isn’t until later chapters that new facets of the story start to appear. The lack of information explaining these aspects keeps me reading.  All these characters are dedicating their lives to the military to kill titans but then some of them can transform into titans? And not all of them are on the good guy’s team?? Most of the titans are just lumbering, incoherent reverse-snack machines for humans but every once in a great while one will come along that possesses higher functioning brainpower.

Not to mention that our main protagonist’s father seems to know what’s up with why some of these kids can turn into titans (most of the main cast are around the age of 15, and then there’s a big jump to at least 30 years old for other characters). Of course, the father is in hiding and his secrets lie in the basement. Without these little touches to enhance the storyline of ‘Shingeki no Kyojin’ is about 95% gore and tears.

I know this class is focusing on comics, but on a side note, I’d like to very quickly mention the anime. First of all, and most importantly, it sticks extremely close to the manga. For almost every scene you could hold up the book and travel panel by panel on your television. Another point I would like to make is how well animated the series is. There are all kinds of mid-air acrobatics going on that flawlessly follow through to the next action sequence. The 3D techniques meld smoothly into the traditionally animated realm of ‘Attack on Titan’.