Skip to main content

Week 6 - Proto-Underground Comics (Caution: Offensive Material)

For this week I read a collection of comics in the "Tijuana Bibles," collection, all of which focused on  comedic representations of sex. Showing both males and females getting "caught up in the heat of the moment," the comics show how idiotic people can act when they are getting frisky. From a man who wants to fornicate while flying a plane, (resulting in the couple falling to their deaths) to a female who whores herself out but neglects to collect any money, the comics show both genders acting idiotically in the pursuit of sexual satisfaction. One constant that I noticed throughout the comedic-centered interpretations was the disconnect these humans felt towards, sex, none of them saw it as an expression of love or loyalty, but rather a good to be traded or a service to be sold. While I personally don't agree with this interpretation of the act, the author(s) stance on how certain people may view sex is an interesting one; opening up multiple areas of intrigue when it comes to what sex means to an individual. Is the act of sex "lovemaking?" Is it meaningless and just a result of base desires..? Is it purely for producing offspring..? This series of comics challenges you to think about what sex means to you personally, as it makes it very clear that no-one should really act like the people depicted in these comics, regardless of what your interpretation of sex is.

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

Week 12- Women In Comics

For this week I read the surprisingly enjoyable and approachable visual novel, "Ms. Marvel," a modern take on a modern Marvel fan. It is made obvious numerous times that this is NOT the "actual" Ms. Marvel, or even any variant of the character in previous versions, (there is a quite enjoyable sequence in the first/second comic that shows her transforming into various previous variants of the character). The bulk of the story centers around Kamala Khan, a girl with strong heritage and close family ties that feels like a freak/outsider in nearly every scenario in her life. One of her most powerful lines of dialogue probably includes, "Why does everyone get to be normal but me." While not the most original story or concept, (the storyline of someone feeling alienated, lonely, or unsure of what to do with their powers has been seen many, many times a la Superman, Spiderman, etc) its defining characteristic is the execution of these aspects...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 13- "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" - In class assignment

1. My initial reaction to the text I read was sadness followed by acceptance, while certainly a MUCH darker overall tone that ANY golden age Superman story, this joint collaboration by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, George Perez, and Kurt Schaffenberger, is a damn near perfect end to this "run" of the Superman story. Focusing on the dramatic end of Superman, the story throws all of his most, and a few of his lesser, memorable villains and allies at him at once, a sort of collage of the entire Alan Moore run with the character. As Batman later describes it, "like walking through fragments of a legend." This comic celebrates everything that built Superman, from his allies and backstory, to his bitter enemies and emotional struggles; it ties up and ends practically every loose end previously left open in previous issues of the Superman story, while also providing one massive, yet satisfying cliffhanger at the story's end. 2. I grew up loosely following various versions ...
Post a Comment
Read more