Grant Morrison’s, “Batman Arkham Asylum” was by far one of the most intense graphic novels I’ve read this semester. I wasn’t expecting much since the only exposure I’ve really had to batman was in the form of cartoons and cheesy 70’s movies. I was pleasantly surprised, though, both by the art and the story. The hand-painted look of the novel was a little jarring at first, however, it grew on me as the story progressed, and by the end I really felt that it couldn’t have been told as well without it. The dark smoky atmosphere that the world seems to exist in helps obscure details and really emphasizes the idea that the border between perception and reality is blurring. The more we are told about Arkham’s story, for example, the more each panel becomes less about detail and more about mood and abstraction of the feeling that the story is conveying. This was really nice to see, especially set next to a character like Batman that we know so well. I enjoyed the novel from start to finish. My only real hang-up was that the text was very small and oftentimes difficult to read. Other than that though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Asterios Polyp
David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyop was a fun read, with clever writing and an interesting style. What drew me to the comic initially was the graphic feel of the main character – the way his whole head is one simple shape and his body is all just simplified drawing. I like that that style is kept consistent with other characters in the book. It makes the introduction of new characters an adventure because it almost allows you to guess how their design will represent their personality. The writing felt very minimal in the beginning, but eventually grew as the asterios and the other characters began to show their personalities. It never felt excessive though. Even the more abstract sections where the narration started to take over didn’t feel too verbose or indulgent.
The style the characters are drawn in works well for the story not because their designs fit well, but because their facial expressions are always very minimal. It helps the novel feel composed, even when it gets to sections that are more extreme. I was reminded of “The Dreamer” by Will Eisner, who’s drawings were always over the top, even for less important story points. I like that Mazzucchelli doesn’t go big with his expressions unless the situation really warrants it.
Asterios Polyp
David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyop was a fun read, with clever writing and an interesting style. What drew me to the comic initially was the graphic feel of the main character – the way his whole head is one simple shape and his body is all just simplified drawing. I like that that style is kept consistent with other characters in the book. It makes the introduction of new characters an adventure because it almost allows you to guess how their design will represent their personality. The writing felt very minimal in the beginning, but eventually grew as the asterios and the other characters began to show their personalities. It never felt excessive though. Even the more abstract sections where the narration started to take over didn’t feel too verbose or indulgent.
The style the characters are drawn in works well for the story not because their designs fit well, but because their facial expressions are always very minimal. It helps the novel feel composed, even when it gets to sections that are more extreme. I was reminded of “The Dreamer” by Will Eisner, who’s drawings were always over the top, even for less important story points. I like that Mazzucchelli doesn’t go big with his expressions unless the situation really warrants it.
Persepolis
The simplified drawing of Persepolis was a nice contrast to the heavy subject matter, but the graphic novel itself was a very boring read. Like “Fun Home”, it was a memoir and like “Maus” it had political significance was was arguably educational. There wasn’t much about that was enjoyable, however which made it difficult for me to keep reading. Cultural and political revolution from a child’s point of view is always interesting, however, Persepolis seemed to quickly fall into a formula. The main character would learn just enough about a subject to feel informed, then approach the adults or other members of the community with her knowledge and find out she was really ignorant. It was a simple device the author used to illustrate her points about how absurd religion and politics could often be, however it got tiresome pretty fast. Also, while the drawings were simple, they weren’t especially appealing. There wasn’t anything very unique about the style, and the composition of the panels was often visually noisy and jarring. Persepolis was definitely my least favorite of the novels I’ve read this semester.
Manga
The first manga I read for week nine was Ozama Tezuka's Pheonix. I’ve never been a huge fan of Tezuka’s work, mostly because of the way he designs his characters however I didn’t completely hate phoenix. I enjoyed the story – I like that he really pushed his characters to extremes in terms of their hardships and how they got through them. Many of the situations he created seemed morally very black and white, which was a little off putting – I felt a little let down when I saw the one-armed child getting chased around by the villagers. Still, it was nice that he allowed his characters to arc and change as the story went on, and that even though his theme of “Karma” wasn’t especially interesting the fact that there were multiple instances of payback instead of just one “getting their comeuppance” ending was interesting.
I also chose to read Solanin, a more recent manga by Inio Asano. Solanin is about a couple in their early twenties figuring out what to do with their lives. As jumping off point for story that wasn’t especially interesting, but the dialogue and character interactions are a lot of fun – even the most minor characters have a lot of personality. One thing I really like about Asano’s work is the way he renders his backgrounds. He uses a combination of photographs, filters, and drawing to create very detailed environments with a really nice feeling of atmosphere. The light and shadows in Asano’s work are usually very harsh, as if it’s perpetually a slightly overcast noon or a very bright dawn. His character designs also deviate pretty significantly from many of the more mainstream mangas.
The last novel I read for week nine, was Scott Pilgrim vs the World. I'd already seen the movie and was curious how it differed from the manga. The biggest change I noticed, was the personality of the main character. Casting Michael Cera for that role was definitely a good choice - he fit, and I bought it completely for the movie. But the character in the manga tends to act more silly and naive than sarcastic and awkward. I was also surprised to see that the side characters didn't have quite as much depth as they did in the movie. This wasn't a bad thing; most of the characters were sort of simplified down to a few key traits and then played off one another. I was just expecting to see more development of their personalities earlier on. Overall it was a good read. I got through the first 3 volumes and I'm slowly working my way through the fourth. One thing the series definitely has going for it is the style. Everything is drawn in a really appealing sketchy style - sort of a cross between the web-comic "Octopus Pie," and the manga "FLCL."