Taylor's Blog

Maus by Art Spiegelman, published nearly 40 years after the end of the second World War, tells the story of Spiegelman's father as a Jew in Poland during the Nazi regime. Both the narrative/written aspect and the visuals and layout of volumes one and two contribute to the overall effect that Spiegelman achieves in his work. Most notable about Maus is the lens in which the story is told through. The narrative is achieved Spiegelman interviewing his father about his life as a Polish Jew. The interview itself is included in the comic, sprinkled between his father's accounts. In this way, the comic breaks the fourth wall, acknowledging that it is a graphic novel in production. Additionally, because the story is told from the perspective of Spiegelman interviewing his father, the father actually acts as narrator for a majority of the volumes. This is made especially clear with the diction that is used when his father is speaking, this being broken English or English meant to b...

This week's selection proved to be surprising and occasionally offensive, as promised. The audio tracks really set the mood for the 1960s/1970s "sexual revolution," a common theme in many of the comics. The majority of what I read was from Tits and Clits , admittedly because the name stands out so much. Within the same publication, there's a wide variety of comics by artists from different backgrounds and points of view. A common thread throughout each is that all of the comics in Tits and Clits , as is evident through the name, were created by women. Knowing this makes it more apparent in the work that they were written by women. I had some mixed feelings about the variety of comics in Tits and Clits . Some of them I really enjoyed; the ones that touched on empowering female sexuality, normalizing lesbian relationships, etc. were enjoyable and more meaningful to me, especially if they were also done in a humorous way. On that note, there were some comics that w...

For this week's graphic novel response I'll be focusing on Blankets by Craig Thompson. I wasn't sure what to expect from this selection, but almost immediately enjoyed it, and after having read it I can say I really loved it. First and foremost, I think part of what separates it as a graphic novel rather than a comic is, aside from the obvious length of it, the fact that Thompson himself calls it an "illustrated novel." There are traditionally placed panels throughout, but several illustrations take up a whole page. Additionally, it felt like the focus of the story was more in the writing than the illustrations, though the illustrations no doubt added a magical and irreplaceable element to the work. Most noticeably, Thompson's use of perspective is very stretched and dramatic. This is especially effective when paired with the characters' expressions. The perspective and the composition of each panel/illustration reads as almost cinematic; I can see eac...

For this week's reading focusing on "The Comic Book," I'll be responding to Carl Barks's Donald Duck series, which ran for 75 years from 1942 to 2017. Similarly to last week's Peanuts reading, much of the appeal of the Donald Duck comics stems from its use of characters with traits unique to them. Donald is famously a hot-tempered but with a heart of gold, Daisy is his sophisticated love interest, Uncle Scrooge is a frugal tycoon, and the nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie (who can almost be seen as a single character, as they often speak at the same time or finish each other's sentences) are lovable troublemakers. Because each character is so identifiable, it makes it easy and fun to recognize them in each comic, and see how their distinct personalities will react to whatever dilemma they've gotten themselves into. Additionally, the reader can most likely see themselves in a certain character in one way or another. Plot wise, each comic features the...

For this week's comic strip reading I decided to focus on Peanuts by Charles Schulz. I was mostly drawn to these for nostalgic purposes but was also interested to see how I'd react to them as an adult. Most noticeable about the selection that I read through was that there's not exactly a punchline in each strip. That's not to say they aren't funny, but the humor seems to come more so from the individual traits of each character in the strip. That is probably, in part, why the strip has long stood the test of time. It is very character-driven, and each character has a distinct personality that's easy for audiences to identify with. For example, Lucy is the "bossy one", Charlie Brown is the lovable kid down on his luck, and we can always rely on Snoopy for some comedic relief. Because of these specific traits, it's enjoyable to read through each strip and recognize them, and think, "there's Lucy just being Lucy." Thematically speak...