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.