Palestine

In my honest opinion, Palestine is a great comic that has gorgeous pen and ink work in it. What I enjoyed about it was the fact the way the artist handled the work. A lot of time especially in comics that I have read prior to this class, a pen and ink artists will go crazy with the pen and have a look that becomes very chaotic and I become stressed when looking at it. However, the ink work in Palestine has nice breaks of no ink, it's just line work with no ink, and this was so refreshing. The backgrounds in certain frames were done wonderfully. The entire book had a combination between classic pen and ink looks mixed with a slightly graphic look (not sure if that's right, but it sounds right to me). The artwork and the story were perfect for each other and neither lacked for me in anyway. This is definitely a must read and should be something that one purchases.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

I heard some great things about this book and I really looked forward to reading. As I started reading the first issue I realized that the work had a very flat graphic type of look to it which I didnt mind and slightly enjoyed. Thats where the enjoyment ended though. I felt the text boxes when they were used were not very good because of the amount of text that was used sometimes was over done and it made me claustrophobic. I felt that the whole idea of someone asking him something, saying something or doing something harmless around him and then he would go crazy was kind of childish and I might have enjoyed it more in middle school but as of now i didn't care for it. The long monologues about murder I could have also lived without.

Honestly, Im glad I have read this because now I can stay as far away as possible.

Ghost World

I loved Ghost World. I think I enjoyed the story so much was because I liked the characters so much. they reminded me of girls I knew years back and the way that they really didn't like anything and made jokes about everyone was identical to the main characters.

The story felt very much like a real series of events rather than something just made up and I believe that made it much more interesting to me. The artwork is very not super simplified but a nice clean line drawing with a blue-ish tone over areas in each scene. This personally for me felt perfect for the story. I guess it gave me a feeling that these events happened in the past. Which to me was not a bad thing. I liked knowing that this had a more 90's feel to it than having a time period left up to interpretation.

Honestly I don't have anything negative to say about the comic and look forward to seeing the film that was made about it so I can complain that I don't like the film as much as the comic.

Arkham Asylam

I was very excited to read Arkham Asylum as I had never read many Batman comics when I was younger and as I have gotten older I wished that I did (I was always a dedicated Superman reader). In m opinion, Arkham Asylum starts off as your typical superhero comic. By this I mean there is some kind of trouble and Batman is called to save the day. Honestly I thought the story was pretty straight forward but I did enjoy it.

The artwork was pretty good very creepy looking and beautifully rendered, which I felt was appropriate when dealing with the subject matter. However, I did not feel as if both the story and the artwork worked well together. The artwork felt very over powering and it was all I wanted to look at. The work I would stare at first for at least 10 minutes per page and then I would have to pull myself away to read the story. This became disappointing as I feel that the story should have pulled me over the art work and I don't know if I should tip my hat to the artist for pulling me into his work so deep or turn my back to him for being to distracting.

As a whole though I did enjoy Arkham Asylum and was glad that I was finally able to read it and look forward to reading more Batman stories.

Maus

Before reading Maus I had no idea as what to expect. Honestly I have never heard of Maus prior to this class and would have probably never picked it or many of these comics up to read, but I am glad that I have. upon first glance I noticed of course that the books main characters were probably mice but I noticed that the art work was very simplistic and rough. What I mean is it was not your typically over clean lines and bright colors but black and white pen and ink. I felt at first that this was going to be a huge distraction for me and that I might not even like the book due to this. However after the first couple of panels this completely slipped my mind. The book I felt was very interesting and the simplified art was better because I was able to concentrate on the story first and the imagery secondly. The thing I found was that I really did not want to stop reading the book and before I knew it was over and yet I felt unsatisfied. Normally when I read a book or watch a movie I feel that it should be able to stand alone as a seperate work but with Maus I felt that in order to truly enjoy the story one should read both books. Because of this I sat down and read the second book and felt much better when finished.

The books were pretty serious but with some slight humorous moments which helped to alleviate the heavy subject matter. I am glad to have had a chance to read both books and I don't understand why middle or high school teachers don't give this book to read as a requirement. If I read these books when I was younger I probably would have paid attention in history classes.

Little Nemo

This is the first time I had read any Nemo stories. Overall I was entertained. The writing kept me drawn as I found myself dissapointed everytime Nemo awoke from his dreams. I felt the story was just a small intro into the Nemo world and I plan n purchasing more of the material. The artwork of McKay's is beautiful as always even though the line work is very simple contour with flat color over it. Each panel really pushes the fantasy realm that a child can create in their dreams. As I have said before this was a great read and the art work was equally as appealing.

Mr Natural

After reading through Mr. Natural I felt bored. I feel that this comic is something to read in moderation. The reason behind my thinking is the humor is adult themed, which I don’t have a problem with but just not consistently. Overall the story consisted of two main characters. The first being a younger guy named Flakey Foont, which almost always is trying to find himself or figure out a problem in his life. The second is Mr. Natural, an older short perverted old man. The two seem to have a nice balance between them.

In my opinion, the stories were descent but considering the content it could have been much worst with no concentration on story. The drawings through out were on the very simplified end of the spectrum however in certain issues (I assume as the comic matures) some issues have some texture and shading added to the characters and the scenes.

Overall I cannot see myself reading Mr. Natural in the future but if so it would be in heavy moderation. Although I did not thoroughly enjoy the book I can understand why people could and can respect that.

Will Eisner's The Dreamer

Once again this is another comic I really enjoyed. I thought the story of this comic artists struggle to become successful is something as students in attending an art school, that we can all feel connected with. Actually anyone that is chasing a dream can relate to the main character’s journey. I feel that the story really grabbed me right from the beginning and because of this I felt it was a pretty easy read, even for comic standards. Knowing that this story was autobiographical, I still at times forgot and found myself hoping that all would work out in the end. I also found it nice to see a small glimpse into the beginning of the golden age of comics. The artwork I felt was simplified but if it was fully rendered I believe it would become too distracting and take away from the story. I liked also that there was no color with the exception of the cover. It gave me more of a recollection of memories past than something that is currently happening. As usual this was a great read and I loved it.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

After reading, well looking through, The Arrival I was amazed. I felt everything was planned out very well. At no point did I feel lost or confused or even believe that I needed text. At first glance I thought that somehow I might be let down that no text was in the work because I have attempted different comics that were without text and instantly disregarded them because the artist left too many holes in the story and I did not know what was really going on. I feel Tan did a beautiful job. The artwork I felt was beautifully done. It was somewhere near realism althoguth it was based in fantasy. I look forward to reading more material like this and will be adding The Arrival to collections I own.

Understanding Comics

Scott McCloud's “Understanding Comics” was a very interesting analyzation of comics. This is a book that any person especially someone in an art field. The book is a pretty easy read because it is set up like a comic book. Many of the ways to communicate in comic books are great ways to successfully communicate in other works of art. It is nice to hear that many of the things that many of the things that I have been taught regarding using simplistic images and symbols in works of art have once again been further supported by McCloud.

However the book did have some interesting points there were times I felt bored. Maybe this was due to previously reading comics on a regular basis. I felt that many people that have read comics regularly would have learned many of the things in this book from their familiarity for the art form. I was very hyped to read this book but I felt myself yearning for the conclusion of each point. Although I may not have enjoyed the book completely, someone less familiar with comics may have a better understanding and enjoyment for the art form after this read.