For this week, I decided on
reading "Alice in Sunderland," an exploration of famous literature
and how it relates to the numerous "wondrous" events that occurred at
the city of Sunderland, in North East England. Specifically centering around
the famous accomplished writer Lewis Carroll, this sort of biographical novel,
sort of review of decades of literature is an interesting mix of art and
writing styles. It
explores the various connecting factors between the writer, Lewis Carroll and
the Sunderland area,
with wider themes of history, myth and storytelling. The greatest bulk of the
story is told from an elderly “rabbit” performer in a near empty theatre, save
one loudmouth youngster, who starts off very detached and jaded from his work
and focused more on something as “mundane as age.” This relatively relatable,
realistic setting as our basis for the story only furthers the imaginative themes
discussed in the novel, and makes for a nice reliable background to go back to
in between discussions. These kinds of comics as contemporary literature allow
for a more visually sophisticated, (and very diverse representations) exploration
of themes, and used very effectively by the writer and artist, Bryan Talbot.
What could have been just another simple, (and let’s face it kind of boring) history
and/or philosophy textbook recounting the accomplishments of other people is
instead a recounting of epic storytelling and real-life human accomplishments;
all while creating interesting art, imaginative literature, and producing
memorable and engaging work that stands upon yet separate from the works
discussed in the comic.
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 ...
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