The Dreamer and Blankets

I read “The Dreamer,” by will Eisner and didn’t enjoy it all that much. One of the things people pointed out about the other reading selection for this week, “Blankets,” was that the author seemed very arrogant. I got that feel from reading “The Dreamer,” far more than I did from “Blankets.” The Dream is about a lone comic artist, trying to follow his dream while still keeping within his morals, his foray into the world of comic publication is trying on his character, however he eventually achieves his goal. Eisner’s drawings were very nice in and of themselves, but they had no subtlety. I’m sure this was due in part to the time in which they were done, as we’ve since grown much more sophisticated in our ability to gather information from comics. Appreciating this fact though doesn’t make it any easier for me to overlook the fact that this comic is essentially a heavy-handed success story about a morally perfect comic artist, written by a comic artist. The heavy-handedness of Eisner’s work helped set me up for Blankets; reading a story with more subtlety and character was like a breadth of fresh air after the bland vanilla experience that was, “The Dreamer.” I especially liked the first volume, before it turned into a more clichéd love story. Reading about the main character and is brother in the harsh environment they grew up in was much more satisfying than trying to empathize with a spoiled 20something drowning in his own ennui.