Little Nemo, Iceland

I was first introduced to Winsor McCay via history of animation, for his work on Gertie the Dinosaur. At the time, one of the most riveting things around, though he tended to book end the animation- Something I find very annoying. And again, he book ends Little Nemo with Nemo waking up. Every single page ends with him waking up for some reason. Granted, these were newspaper strips, and not everyone who picked it up would understand that it was a dream. However to read it in a book format, this became tiresome.

As for plot: Not exactly riveting. As it takes place in "slumberland", it has very little plot, like dreams often do. It travels from foriegn land to foriegn land, with the characters commenting here and there on what's going on. The thing with Gertie the Dinosaur is that it was widely regarded as the first character with a distinct personality in animation, and not just random things happening to the same "character". Nemo has no character. Nemo is a little boy that sleeps a lot.

What I liked most about these strips was the art style. Though faded over time, I really appreciated the character designs, and the attention to the backgrounds. I can only assume that most of the point of the comics was the Slumberland aspect, and so each panel is a beautiful illustration. I am also a fan of the design of the Imp. And to me he showed the most personality out of anyone, expressely stating what his wants were, and feeling for other characters. He had the most play on proportion, (he appeared to be about ten feet tall at one point) and did fun things like drive strange cars with running goats for wheels. I truly enjoyed parts that did strange things like that.

As far as comics go, this was not the best thing I've ever read- But a part of history that needs to be looked at.

Shaun Tan's The Arrival

I've just read Shaun Tan's The Arrival.

I enjoyed the ride. Never a dull moment, though the images successfully illustrate a long passage of time. No dialogue, and no narration. Not a single word of English. thought the story is vague, it has incredibly clear concepts. A man that immigrates for the good of his family, presumably to get a job and send money back, aid them in coming to the new world.

Though the world he leaves resembles our own more than the new world, the entire book has an other worldly sense, grounded only by the human forms, and their expressions.I took the dragon like tails, spirals and shadows over the city as a metaphor for destruction, war, perhaps depression or corruption in the city. And yet, when the man arrives in the new world, the imagery is not recognizable. And so, I can only assume that it was to keep an audience at the man's side, understanding his confusion. (What with the Internet, we can "travel" the world easily) I found that it was effective, and I appreciated the imaginative portrayal of everything the main character encountered. The simplicity and ancient art inspired design was beautiful. I love the designs of the animals that follow the humans. I'm not sure what they are. The closest thing I could think was a Golden Compass-esque "soul beside the body" deal. And yet, our main character find his in a bin. Nonetheless, they keep the sense of wonder as the story progresses, with each new character having one of their own.

The main character is beautifully rendered..realistic proportions, with a soft pencil edge. We do not hear this character talk, he only emotes. And with this addition, we're even more attached to this character, as he introduces us in to the new world as the audience travels with him.

Along with the main character's journey, the book occasionally dips into the life of the acquaintances he makes, a brief history of each. Whether they escaped a similarly threatened country, or fought in a far away war, the clarity of the images brings the same understanding and empathy.

Making Comics: Scott McCloud

Having read Understanding Comics beforehand, I chose to read Scott McCloud's Making Comics for this week of class.

I found the work to be similar to the original, in format and in basic humor. And the humor is something I can appreciate! I feel like Mccloud put a lot of effort into putting not only himself into the book, but a lot of gathered theory that has built how he does comics.

McCloud makes a point of using visuals to illustrate ideas. And not just the basics, such as composition and so on, but literally every point of the book is illustrated. And so, it allows another way to understand concepts I'm used to applying on my own, or had read somewhere else. Though I'm not a fan of graphs and charts and the like, McCloud builds from listing in a chart to illustrating a concept, to reaching further into each concept, illustrating as he goes.

In the example of a man finding a key, testing it, and an hungry lion jumping out, McCloud goes from explaining the basics of a story and cutting it down, to how to position a camera angle on the story, with out going overboard.

I wasn't exactly enlightened by the content of this book, but I really appreciated the rewording of familiar concepts. As I've learned to work with comics of my own, I've found things that work, things that don't work, and have picked up ideas from other artists. McCloud reiterated these concepts, but in new ways- and explained why they did and didn't work. I found this very interesting, and that's what kept me reading. There's something about hearing it from someone else's mouth. And needless to say McCloud is more experienced and eloquent than I am when it comes to articulating exactly what is going on in a comic. I've been feeling my way around, and this book gave names to what I've been doing, and reminded me of some concepts I've let fall by the wayside.

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I've created this blog for my graphic narrative class. It is for reading responses in the form of writing or art.