Skip to main content

Analysis of Early Comics

From Little Nemo in Slumberland to Calvin and Hobbes and Krazy Kat, so many of early comics were primarily if not entirely based around cartoons and lighthearted, shorter "strips" of comedic observation or slapstick. Involving simple stories and characters, the objective of many of these seemed to be to attract younger audiences with the cartoon characters, never delving into more serious themes, reserving those for political cartoons or propaganda. Some early recreational comics however do explore more developed characters, such as Alex Raymond's Flash Gordan, an early adventure comic that focused on themes of science fiction, romance, and even aspects of war; (though HEAVILY filtered). These early adventure comics were some of the first comics to have continuing stories over multiple issues of a comic, involving much, much longer comics rather than a traditional "strip" of panels like previous cartoon oriented comics. These adventure stories were aimed at slightly older young to late teen audiences, giving them an outlet for adventure and romance that resonated with what these young minds wanted as they were developing into adults. All of these themes while simultaneously exploring how fantastical views on technology were beginning to develop and introductions to global affecting events like global politics, war, and space exploration; though again heavily filtered and streamlined for high adventure and entertainment. These early comics were always meant for younger minds and audiences, with some meant for daily or weekly bits of entertainment to be distributed in newspapers and a few sold as independent "visual novels," early comics covered all the entertainment of young life and began to touch upon themes and education of ideals in longer comics such as Flash Gordan.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Analysis of Shaun Tan's, "The Arrival"

Jarod Frank Analysis of Shaun Tan’s, “The Arrival.” Shaun Tan's, “The Arrival,” is a fantastic example of conveying narrative themes and complex character interactions without the use of dialogue. Through the emphasis on gestures, body positioning, and facial expressions, we are able to “fill in” to a great degree what we imagine the characters are conveying; regardless of anything literally being said. One such fantastic example of this is when the main immigrant man is trying to find an apartment, beginning by asking another man where it could be. We see the quizzical look he local man as he looks over the immigrant, who pulls out a drawing pad and draws a bed, pointing to it. Such a natural progression of actions, reactions and continued actions are the basics of human communication, not necessarily needing words to convey an experience we all are familiar with: questioning. While the situation is mundane, the comic being able to convey this series of emotions here and n...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Emergence of the Graphic Novel, (Week 5)

Will Eisner’s approach to archetype is an interesting one, somewhat influenced by his religious background. Using his characters as a mouthpiece for his ideals, such as in his story of “A Life Force,” where our primary characters, one of which is a hobo, discuss how “they” perceive life and the human experience. In one particular scene I adore, the homeless man is sitting in an alleyway talking about the struggles that both a man and a cockroach must face; and relates this to the shared idea of survival that the sane human race collectively agrees on, regardless of personal ideals or religion. “It seems to be the only thing we can agree on!?!” Comparable to his energy filled discussions is his approach to art, especially the way he designs his characters and their expressions. Many of Eisner’s characters are very expressive, using their whole body to convey an emotion. Using their shoulders, hands, faces, even the positioning of their feet or where their eyes are ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 14- Web Comics

For the purposes of this assignment I will be reviewing, (shortly) several web comics I consider to be worthy of a person's time, and listing my reasons for doing so.     Series Comic: Imperial Entanglements Link to web comic: http://imperialentanglements.thecomicseries.com/archive/ This is an interesting parody comic based in the Star Wars universe, more specifically, during the time of "The Old Republic," a time period that has received numerous GREAT games and official comics, (of which this story is set in the MMO video game, "The Old Republic") but no movie or animation releases like the more famous Clone and Galactic Civil Wars, (Episodes 1-6). Focusing in on an unapologetic Imperial point of view, (typically considered the "Bad guys" in every other media) this story follows a Sith and an Imperial Agent in their comedic centered adventures through "The Old Republic."     Series Comic: The Daily Planet Files Link to web comic: ...
Post a Comment
Read more